


Ceremonious

by noirefemmefatale



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fire Nation Royal Family, Fluff, Tags are not my thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3549461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noirefemmefatale/pseuds/noirefemmefatale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara and Zuko's journey to the alters. Katara moves to the Fire Nation palace to be with her fiance and get accustomed to everything she has to do before it becomes permanent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Returns

“You’re doing great. No one gets the forms right on their first time.” Katara comforted her student that had started to tear up over failing yet again.

            “This isn’t my first time. I’ve been working on the same thing all night and during this class,” Sequana sniffed.

            “Don’t overwork yourself. Frustration gets in the way of any type of progress. Why don’t you try to mediate?” Katara ruffled the girl’s hair. “Don’t fall asleep this time.”

            The girl smiled fondly and moved towards a small crater in the snow that the students sat in to mediate. Out of all her students, Katara was more than sure that Sequana would grow to be the best waterbender. The girl had so much talent with a fuse the length of a single grain of rice. When Katara thought about short fuses she struggled to hold in a smile and touched the new betrothal necklace that she wore. Technically, it wasn’t new; she’d had it for almost a full year but had only started wearing it officially two months before.

            “Okay,” Katara called. “Who’s ready for an attack?”

            All of the waterbending students perked up and rushed over to hear the plan. Ever since Suki had started training a small group of female warriors in the Southern Water Tribe, she and Katara staged attacks between their classes to keep each group on their toes. Katara doubted that Suki would expect an attack due to the fact that in the morning the waterbending master would be on a boat to the Fire Nation to begin “nobility” training. The thought of being told how to behave in a country that she would soon have a hand in ruling made Katara want to roll her eyes, but for Zuko’s sake, she kept the impulse on the inside.

            Katara and her group worked together to create a cloud of snow around Suki and her students as a cover to get themselves set. When the cloud cleared, the young warriors had their wooden weapons at the ready and the benders were all in various stances. None of the children moved until their instructors struck. Each fight lasted until an opponent was unable to form another attack after being hit in spots that would be immobilizing in a real fight. It all depended on honesty. If anyone was caught breaking the first and most important rule, they knew they’d have hell to pay from their instructors.

            When Suki saw that one her students was the last child standing, she threw her arms in the air victoriously. Sportsman like as ever, Katara led her students through a cheer to congratulate their opponents. Both classes walked back to village that was steadily growing into a city due to help from not only the Northern benders coming to build, but benders and non-benders alike coming to start new lives. Katara looked at her childhood home with pride.

            “Sure you can leave all this for a place where it never snows?” Sokka asked, as he caught up with the group. He gave his wife a quick kiss that made some of the kids pull faces before turning back to face his sister.

            “I’m a waterbender, Sokka. I can make it snow.” She shrugged. “Besides, you know I’ll visit as much as I can.”

            “Speaking of visits, I think we’re due for some time in Kyoshi,” Suki reminded. 

            “We are but we have to give it some time. If I leave right after Katara all the elders will think there’s another war.”

            Suki rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

            Katara cut in when Sokka looked like he was about to get extremely animated. “They will. When I got engaged to Zuko they thought there was a war coming. I think they’re waiting for a reason to see if our training is working.”

            Katara spent the rest of the day with her brother and sister-in-law. When it came time for the last sleep she’d have among her family for a long while, she couldn’t help but feel excited and sad all at once. On one hand, she’d be able to see Zuko again and stop missing him so much it was to starting to physically hurt. On the other, she’d only have to start missing everyone in the Southern Water Tribe in the same way. She fell asleep trying in vain to think of a way to have everyone she loved in one place for a prolonged period of time.

            The next morning, the Fire Nation ship was docked and waiting to take her aboard while all of Katara’s family and friends saw her off. She shed more tears than she would have cared to admit and leaned over the railing until she could no longer see even dots of the people that stood and waved until their arms were tired. She knew the crew since they picked her up each time she went back home. They knew when she liked to practice her waterbending, what food she liked to eat, how she liked to help out with the daily tasks even though she was soon to be a noble and how if the mood struck her, she would use the currents to speed their journey along. When the weather turned warm, Katara felt her heart beating quicker with the anticipation of not only seeing Zuko, but Iroh and Ursa, who had taken to living in the palace once more.

            In a letter Zuko had mentioned how since his mother returned, he was more at ease and Azula was more on edge—if such a thing were possible. Katara looked forward to the woman she’d soon call mother-in-law and in some strange way, she wanted to see her future sister again. The last time Katara had been in the Fire Nation, Azula had been suspected of meeting with a group of rebels to take back the throne that she thought was rightfully hers. The claims proved wrong. Since then, Azula had been given a small position of power that she accepted gracefully enough and did dutifully.

            “We’ll be on Fire Nation soil in under an hour,” the captain announced and the crew began to move about with a new purpose.

            Katara went down to her quarters and made sure that not a hair was out of place and there were no stains on her clothes. Of course, Zuko wouldn’t care if she showed up looking like she’d just rolled around in a mud pit but she wanted to make a good impression on his mother. As she’d expected, the royal family was waiting with a full guard at the docks. Despite many shouted warnings from the crew, Katara ran to hug her fiancé, thankfully avoiding twisting her ankle on the way.

            Zuko caught her in his arms and squeezed her so tightly it was hard to draw breath. “I missed you so much. Next time I’m going with you.”

            “The next time we go to the water tribe it’ll be for our wedding,” she reminded. “I would hope you didn’t send me alone.”

            “I see the humor didn’t freeze out of you.” He bent to kiss her forehead then the tip of her nose.

            Before the kisses could turn to more than was polite for public, Iroh moved closer and wrapped his arms around the couple. Katara shifted so that she was hugging more of the old man than Zuko. When they broke apart she saw Azula examining her cuticles next to a woman that looked eerily like her. Fire Nation genes were no joke.

            “Go say hi,” Zuko whispered and nudged Katara.

            Katara slapped a smile onto her face and began to move forward. When she held out her hand, the woman—Ursa—pulled her into a hug that could have rivaled even the mightiest welcome from Iroh. It was easy to see why Zuko adored his mother so much. Katara hadn’t said a word to the woman and she felt as if she’d known her all her life. The returning hug felt natural; tension leaked from Katara’s body.

            “I’m Ursa but you can me any variation of Mom that you want. Zuko has said nothing but good things about you,” she assured.

            “I’m Katara, but you know that. Zuko fawns over you in every letter.”

            Behind her, Katara heard a groan and then a chuckle. If he didn’t want her to tell then why hadn’t he mentioned it? She ignored the temporary embarrassment of her fiancé and moved towards his sister. Without a second thought or a moment to steel herself, Katara went in to hug Azula. It wasn’t returned and she hadn’t expected it to be. The happy laughs from earlier cut off as she let go of a very angry looking Azula.

            “Couldn’t leave you out of the hugs.”

            “You could have,” Azula stated. “Don’t do that again.”

            “No promises. I want to start over with you. It’s a time for new beginnings,” Katara admitted with a small smile that she refused to let go of, despite the intensity of Azula’s withering glare.

            “Spare me.”

            “It could have gone much worse,” Ursa said as they all walked towards the line of three palanquins. Katara decided she definitely liked the woman.

            Katara settled into life at the palace as if she hadn’t been gone for months. Each day she met with different tutors to learn proper Fire Nation mannerisms and customs, after that she learned Fire Nation history from the eyes of her future citizens (even though she knew there were huge chunks of truth missing she said nothing), ate a quick lunch with the royal family, and went back to lessons on all things Fire Nation. The best part of all her lessons were those in which she was given different scenarios at random and asked to respond to them in a way a Fire Lady would. When they found that her answers weren’t up to par, she was advised to spend more time with Ursa and to learn how to be a proper Fire Lady.

            While Katara practiced her waterbending, one of her tutors sought out Zuko. After a low bow that he rolled his eyes at when no one was looking, the tutor fixed the Fire Lord with a grave look. Immediately, Zuko was put on edge. Katara had only arrived a week ago and already there was a problem.

            “Fire Lord Zuko, with all due respect, I and all of Lady Katara’s tutors, advise you to take a look at her previous education.”

            Zuko quirked his eyebrow. “Being from the Southern Water Tribe, she has no formal education. She taught herself to read recently if that’s the problem all of you are facing. She’s a bright woman and it won’t be a problem for much longer.”

            “Her reading is perfectly fine. We worry that she will try to usurp your position as Fire Lord. All her answers have not been fitting of a Fire Lady, she believes she has too much authority and that could become a problem.”

            “She has always been a bossy little thing,” Zuko said with a dreamy, fond smile. When he saw that the tutor was not smiling, he went back to the dignified expression of a leader.

            “Again, with all due respect, you should dive a little deeper, Your Highness.”

            “I’ll follow your advice and be sure to ask her when I see her. Thank you.”

            The tutor bowed so low his forehead almost touched the ground and moved away. Zuko forgot about the talk until Katara came into their room with wet, freshly clean hair and night clothes that he’d helped Ursa pick out as a gift to the waterbender. She smiled hugely and moved across the bed to kiss him.

            “You tutors tell me you’re answering your Fire Lady questions all wrong,” he teased.

            “I know. They told me to hang out with your mother but all she does is act surprised and agree with my ideas. Maybe she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.” Zuko felt his heart hammer in his chest when her face slipped into perhaps the most beautiful pout he’d ever seen.

            “She probably actually agrees with your ideas. It’s not that they’re bad, your tutors think you’ll become the next Azula and try to ‘usurp my position’. Their words, not mine. You’re answering like you’re going to be the next Fire Lord.”

            “Maybe they shouldn’t ask Fire Lord questions,” she huffed. “What does that even mean?”

            “They want to know what kind of education you have to answer like that. I told them you’re just bossy.”

            “I’m not bossy. Besides, I was trained to be a Chief of the Southern Water Tribe for a while.”

            Zuko sat up on his elbows to stare at his fiancée that continued to impress and surprise him each day. When he looked at her and saw the grin that made her face shine brighter than the sun, he was sure she’d found a way to suddenly read his mind. He had to fix his eyes on her nose when his train of thought escaped him twice when he fell into the deep blue of her eyes.

            “Sokka is the chief. Why did you get his training?”

            “There was a time when it was a very real chance that he was going to leave the tribe forever and live in Kyoshi so Suki could keep her warriors. My father began to train me to be the next chief in case that happened. I showed a real knack for leading a tribe. Sokka decided to claim his birthright and my lessons stopped. I guess it all came back when my tutors started asking hypothetical questions on how to save the future of the Fire Nation,” Katara explained, then shrugged.

            “You’re amazing,” Zuko breathed.

            “You’re pretty great yourself.” He became light as a feather when she kissed him nonchalantly, simply because she felt like it and could. “I think this would be an awful time to ask to sit in on a few meetings.”

            “Let the dust settle a bit, but I’ll let you know about all the conflicts and you give me your chief-y idea.”

            “Such a diplomat,” Katara teased. “Could you put out the fire? I’m really sleepy and it’s too bright in here.”

            “Sure thing, Chief Katara.”

            “Don’t say that too loudly, I’ll have people following me around. Even though I like the way you say it.”

            Zuko dimmed the fire so that it casted shadows across their faces before kissing her a final time. He wound his arms around her and she threw one leg over his torso before burrowing her face into his chest. Out of everything he’d gone without while Katara had been with her family in the Southern Water Tribe, he was sure he’d missed this the most.

           

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first fic (ever) that I'm trying my hand at. Married Zutara has to be my favorite Zutara so I figured I'd put more of them out in the universe. Azula makes the list of my top five favorite characters from the series so she'll be in here a lot, but don't worry I have plans for her. The relationships in the tags will all appear throughout the course of this work (I didn't know if I'd be able to add them in later so I threw them in now).  
> The name I used for the bending student is actually a name of a goddess of the river Seine. Check that out if you're interested. Thanks for reading, hope you liked it.


	2. Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Azula get closer in an unconventional way to sort out an unconventional problem.

Katara dropped into a low fighting stance and in a few swift movements, brought the water in the training area to surround her body. The simple task of holding her element with her bending was enough to take a bit of the edge off of a day of being criticized by various tutors. When she shot dozens of ice spears directly at the heart of a training dummy, she envisioned a particular tutor who’d found a way to suggest that she would better suited for the role of a concubine in a tone that almost made the insult sound respectable. It set her teeth on edge how those people—who were soon to be her own—acted towards someone who had only committed the sin of being born in another region. Her thoughts on improving trade relations with other nations darkened at the thought. Not every Fire Nation citizen had the open mind of Zuko.

An annoyed sound emitted from her throat as she created a massive wave and swirled it around the many dummies, freezing the outer layer before slowly working towards the middle to trap the enemy. The start of a slow clapping broke her concentration and caused the training area to flood before Katara extracted the water and sent it back to where it belonged. Blowing a tuff of hair from her face, she saw Azula standing on the far reaches of the training area with a calculating smile that sent chills up Katara’s spine. Instead of reverting back to six years ago where the expression would have triggered her fight-or-flight response, the waterbender straightened her back and smiled. Azula seemed caught off guard by that and even more so when Katara began moving towards her.

“What a pleasant surprise. Why are you here?” Katara asked and Azula rolled her shoulders in an obviously practiced manner.

“The future Fire Lady was missing and it somehow fell on me to find her. Here you are.”

“Am I needed?”

Again, she shrugged in her special way. “Not exactly but Zuzu likes to keep tabs on any and everyone in the palace. He’s paranoid in that way.”

“Can you blame him? I’d call it smart instead of paranoid.”

“Well, of course _you_ would. You and Zuzu are almost sickening.” Azula sucked in a breath and puffed out her chest. “Going on a manhunt ordered by my brother wasn’t the only reason I came to find you, Katara. I thought about what you said yesterday, about starting over, and it would be the less tiring thing for us to do.”

“I’m so glad you think that.” Katara smiled and moved to hug Azula who gracefully stepped out of the way.

“Not so fast, waterbender. I want to see if you’re worthy of my time and attention. Fight me. If you can’t beat me, or at least come to a draw, our friendship would mean nothing to me.”

Katara knew she shouldn’t encourage Azula’s impulsive behavior but she desperately wanted to hit something that could hit back. “Fine, but know that I’m not in the mood to hold back.”

Azula’s face slipped into the same smile that transported Katara years back in time and made her immediately question her agreement to the fight. “I never am.”

Katara took the time to familiarize herself with all of the liquid in the training area while Azula walked to her spot to set herself. The two women bowed to each other before moving into their respective elements starting forms. They seemed to wait for hours willing the other to strike first. Katara finally heard fire crackle through the air and shoot for her face. The flame was controlled and magnificent, but not frightening in the least. Without breaking her careful breathing, Katara not only engulfed the flames in a sphere of water, she sent a jet stream towards her future sister-in-law. After the first attacks were made, neither of the benders waited for another to be thrown.

Azula showed that she had matured from the girl who had snapped the last time they’d fought by keeping her cool even though each of her attacks grew fiercer and fiercer. Katara showed no hesitation in returning and at times, striking first. When sweat began to freely drip off both benders, Katara used the moisture on Azula’s face and clothes to bend her to the ground then freeze her. Not willing to go down without a fight, Azula melted the thin layer of ice and began to use her finger tips to conduct lightning. The spectators that the benders hadn’t noticed, cried out for Katara to call off the fight or do anything to stop herself from being fried to a crisp. Katara ignored them and began to form her own counter attack as Azula let the lightning go straight for her.

Katara feigned falling, landing on her hands and using her feet to direct the rushing currents of water. It was choppy and unstable, as she’d learned from Zuko and adapted the move to fit her element, but it hit the target and allowed her to create a sheet of ice so thick, Azula would have turned the loose dirt beneath their feet to glass before melting it.

When Azula took the hand that Katara offered to help her off the ground, their audience nearly sucked all the air from the room. “I’d call this a win but we can go again if you want.”

“Maybe you aren’t as boring as I thought,” Azula teased. “I can accept defeat and you beat me. I wish it wasn’t with water and worse, a secondhand firebending move that my brother made up to cover his many failures, but you made it work. We can start on a new page.”

“Hugs?” Katara offered with a wide smile and opening arms.

“I don’t hug anyone. I am willing to talk about what made you angry enough to come here and rash enough to agree to a fight with me—someone who’s tried to kill you on multiple occasions.”

Katara ran her fingers through her hair and huffed. “My tutors are…draining.”

“I heard Zuko talking to Mother”—Azula spoke the title as if it was foreign on her tongue—“about the difficulties that you’re having. Now that we no longer hate each other, I can offer to help you. If you want to take it.”

Katara knew that Azula was the last person she should take Fire Lady tips from. The golden eyes that rested in a fringe of thick lashes and were almost identical to the set that she fell asleep gazing into each night made her resolve too weak to say no. Despite every encounter that proved it wasn’t possible, Azula looked vulnerable. Against her better judgement, Katara found herself walking out away from the training area next to Azula who told her about the rebel attacks that had been shut down during her time in the Southern Water Tribe. The value of a friend who didn’t try to protect her from every undesirable happening in the Fire Nation dawned on Katara before they reached a water lily pond that hardly anyone visited in the palace.

“Even though I was trained to be Fire Lord while Zuko was exiled, I know how cloak my ideas so that the many advisors swallowed them without objection but they were still my own. You can do the same thing with your tutors,” Azula assured.

Katara quirked her mouth to the side. “I only have a few months.”

“I’m an exceptional teacher.”

As the hours passed, Katara found herself relaxing in Azula’s presence and learning how she could joke and what utterances got cold glares as a response. By the time they had to get dressed for the nightly royal family dinner, it was obvious that there was something budding between the two that suggested of friendship in the earliest stages.

When Zuko saw them enter together, he narrowed his eyes slightly but eased when Katara shot him a dazzling smile. Taking her hand in his, he took a bite of the richly prepared poultry on his plate and started the meal for them all. The interaction between Katara and Uncle wasn’t uncommon; they were usually the ones who carried the conversation for them all. Zuko was content to simply watch Katara eat and talk about her day. Ursa did her best to start topics that Azula would like, but the younger woman was content to pretend the food in front of her was more interesting than any ancient war strategy that had obviously only been studied for the chance to strike the match of camaraderie.

A sweet-tasting, expensive vegetable only grown on the edges of the southernmost Earth Kingdom islands threatened to come back up when Zuko saw his sister and fiancée leaning towards each other to laugh over some event Katara was supposed to know nothing about. One glance around the table to take in frozen eating utensils showed that he wasn’t alone in his surprise. After the vignette was finished, Katara returned to a normal sitting position as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Azula declared she was full and went to retire for the evening.

“You and Azula were awfully friendly tonight,” Zuko commented as he and Katara walked towards their wing of the palace.

Blue eyes and a brown face gazed up at him lovingly. “Did it really seem that way? We’re trying to like each other; it must be working.”

“Why do you want Azula to like you?” Zuko wrinkled his nose and ignored the reprimanding look Katara gave him for it.

“I shouldn’t need to explain why I want to a have a positive relationship with my sister-in-law, Zuko. Besides, she’s always been interesting to me and now I can hold a conversation with her without fearing a betrayal. “

“Betrayal is still an option. This is Azula we’re talking about.”

“If you really believed she hadn’t changed then she wouldn’t be free to roam the halls of the palace. You aren’t the only one who’s capable of forgiveness,” Katara pointed out.

Zuko sighed in defeat. “That’s true. I want you to be careful. I didn’t let her hurt you then and I won’t let her do it now.”

“I know you won’t and that’s one of the many reasons why I love you.”

Katara stretched to reach Zuko’s lips with her own. His entire being sang with those three words that got him every time along with the feeling of the woman he loved pouring all of her emotions into him with a touch that looked so simple but was more akin to an intricate dance that he never wanted to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, I adore Azula and she'll be in here a lot. Hugs skeeve me out so this will be the last reference to them for a long while if I can help it. This fic will be pretty lighthearted but there will be a bit of action and a little drama in the upcoming chapters if you stick with me. I hope you like it, if not let me know why because constructive criticism is always a major plus. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you continue to do so.


	3. Beginnings

Zuko blew hair out of face as Iroh poured his tea slowly. He’d almost gotten used to having a few strands from his topknot constantly in his golden eyes now that Katara was up before the crack of dawn to do _whatever_ with Azula. The thought of his fiancée devoting herself to his demented sister made him angry all over again. When his cup was finally filled to the proper capacity, he took a sip along with his uncle and mother. Two sets of eyebrows raised when he slammed the delicate porcelain on the lacquered table.

“Zuko, what has been bothering you lately?” Iroh asked as Ursa reached across the table to tuck Zuko’s hair back into the knot.

“Katara and Azula.” He blew smoke from his nose. “They’re always together and I can barely get a word in with Katara with Azula coming around the corner and stealing her away for Agni knows what!”

“You’re jealous of Azula?” Ursa smiled at him, not noticing the warning looks Iroh repeatedly shot her.

“Me? Jealous? Of Azula? Now? Not a chance. I am the Fire Lord. I am the one who can say that they helped save the world. I am the one who has been making tremendous leaps in bringing the remaining nations closer,” Zuko listed, growing more indignant with each claim.

“You are the one who is not with Katara right now.”

Zuko turned to Iroh in desperation who cleared his throat. “Both of you have good points. Your mother is right in the fact that you want to spend more time with Katara and at the moment you can’t because her attentions are elsewhere. Zuko, your frustration may stem from worry and not pure jealousy.”

“So what should I do? Azula is obviously too dangerous for Katara to be around for so long without any guards.”

“She’s a master bender who has beaten your sister on more than one occasion. Katara is in no danger. I think the two of them getting friendlier may be a good thing for both young women.”

“Uncle how could that ever be a good thing? Azula doesn’t get close to people; she researches them to see what they can do for her at a later date.”

“Since you released Azula from her… holdings… the only people she’s seen are those in the Fire Nation government and physicians that have, in all honesty, done nothing for her. Her two best friends have vanished off to Kyoshi and have never made the attempt to visit her. Now, she has another woman, who’s not only equally as strong, but the same age.

“Now onto Katara. She’s left all of her family and friends behind after only mere months of visiting them and helping to rebuild her nation that was on its last leg only years before. Many of the citizens here would have liked it if both Water tribes had turned out like the Air Nomads. How many times has she asked to leave the palace grounds since she’s been here? Again, she’s the same age as Azula. Starting over with a member of the Fire Nation who tried to kill her multiple times can in a way build her confidence to insert herself into the nation that she will day rule alongside you.

“In short Zuko: do not tear these women away from each other. They need the other as much as you need me, your mother and Katara herself,” Iroh explained and Zuko slouched at the table in a way that would have made his advisers blanch.

“While you think that over, I have a question for you,” Ursa said, her golden eyes piercing and serious.

Zuko immediately straightened. “I’ve been helping with the wedding; don’t listen to what the planner is telling you.”

“I haven’t talked to the planner yet, but I’ll be sure to sit in on the next meeting to make sure you’re telling the truth. I wanted to know why I haven’t seen Katara with her ring on. I won’t mind if you decided to get a new one instead of using the ring that’s been in our line for generations. Even though you simply could have gotten the ring resized.”

“Well, the reason she hasn’t been wearing it is”—Zuko looked to Iroh who skillfully avoided any and all eye contact—“I haven’t given it to her.”

Ursa placed her tea cup down gently and gave her son a look that transported him a decade back. It was unnerving how much she looked like Azula, especially when her eyes went from warm honey to cold amber. Zuko swallowed and tried not to feel like a child who was about to get the talking-to of a lifetime. It didn’t work.

“Why not?”

“I already carved her a betrothal necklace, which takes the place of an engagement ring in both Water tribes. I didn’t see the point in having both.”

“But you saw the point in having both a Fire Nation and Water Tribe wedding?”

“Those were Katara’s ideas.”

“And you thought that she would see a problem in having a representation of her engagement for both nations? Well Zuko, it is good thing she hasn’t left the palace grounds since she’s gotten here! Any man could have thought her an un-promised woman. Then again, maybe you wouldn’t see the _point_ in showing off the woman that you love.”

“Mom,” Zuko whined.

“My thirst is quenched. Thank you, Iroh.”

Zuko watched his mother leave before turning to his uncle. Iroh raised his brows over the rim of his cup.

“I knew she was upset over the ring but I didn’t know how upset,” Iroh admitted. “Of course, giving Katara the ring is ultimately your decision and you shouldn’t do it because it will make your mother happy. In the end it’ll be your marriage. You can get to it however you please.”

Zuko stood and dusted himself off. “I’ll find Katara and talk about the ring and all of the Azula mess.”

“Remember what I said about needing friends, it doesn’t only apply to the young ladies. When was the last time you had an outing?”

Zuko waved a dismissal hand and bowed to his uncle before leaving. He didn’t need friends; he needed to run his nation and get to the bottom of what was going on between his sister and fiancée.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was home sick with the 24 stomach virus so I figured, hey why not do something productive during this slow death (my attention to detail has taken a serve hit thanks to my sickness so if you see a typo or something try to overlook it)? Here you have half of chapter that I originally planned because this half sort of got away from my outline. Either way, I hope you enjoy how Zuko-centric this is. I'm still debating on the ring thing, I crossed it out from a previous chapter because I wasn't sure so I'll give myself time to think it over. Thank you so much for reading. 
> 
> P.S. I got my first kudos and I think it made me super happy so whoever you are, thank you tons.


	4. Traditions

Katara tried to stretch her neck around the wide back of the main seamstress that worked on her Fire Nation wedding gown. What in the world was taking them so long? When her future mother-in-law saw, she made a slight movement that sent a fury of workers scurrying around to take hold of Katara’s chin. The bender wanted to sigh but knew that over a thousand pins would find themselves embedded in her skin if she did. Instead, she turned slightly to face Azula who sat beside Ursa.

“How’s it coming, Azula?” Katara asked.

“Nicely I suppose. You look like you’ve been attacked by a lace monster but that must be a good thing if the look on Mother’s face is any indication.” Azula shrugged and went back to picking at her nails with a discarded pin.

“You look ravishing already, dear,” Ursa amended. “I can feel the tears coming on and it isn’t even finished yet.”

The main seamstress emerged from under bunches of fabric that were being crafted into the skirt of the gown. “We won’t do the train or the veil today; we can save those for next week. When should I start drafting ideas for your Water Tribe wedding gown? I’ll need at least a month to produce the perfect dress.”

“That won’t be needed. I’m going to wear the ceremonial furs that my mother wore and that my first daughter will wear and so on.” Katara looked at the slack-jawed woman. “It’s a tradition.”

“At least let me tailor the furs for you? You shouldn’t walk down the aisle in anything that is ill-fitting.”

“My Gran-Gran has that covered, but thank you.”

Katara smiled sweetly before the woman had the chance to get offended. She found that smiling at Fire Nation citizens after she turned down any of their requests helped them swallow the rejections much easier. All of her tutors tried to talk her out of the habit but she paid them no mind. It was easier to catch glowflies with honey than vinegar.  

“That’s swell but no member of the Fire Nation government would allow a daughter of said nation to get married in Water Tribe ceremonial furs,” Azula stated, “After your weddings we can put the furs in the museum that Zuzu seems so intent on building.”

“My daughter will be part Water Tribe as well and can follow the traditions of both her people.”

Azula stood and placed a hand on Katara’s shoulder. Instead of looking at the bender, she stared into the mirror that only she, Ursa and the seamstresses could see.

“Try not to take this the wrong way, because I’m starting to like you and I don’t want to ruin what little progress we’ve made towards friendship. When you marry my brother—which I still think you’re odd for agreeing to do—and then become Fire Lady, any Water Tribe part of your nationality falls away. You become a Fire Nation citizen through and through. Your children will have the watered down features from your former home but they will not be recognized as Water Tribe in any of the records or history books. The best place for your furs after your South Pole wedding is in the museum or here in the royal family vault. Our people aren’t ready to classify a member of the royal family as partly Water Tribe yet.

“By all means teach your traditions but they can’t be carried out on a nationwide scale. Maybe sometime in the future, down the line, one of Zuko’s successors will see to it that everyone knows both nations are in the royal blood but neither of us will be alive to see it. No one can change the minds of the Fire Nation citizens overnight, not even dear Zuzu.”

Katara sighed then winced from the multiple sticks in her skin. “I wish you weren’t right.”

“I’m hardly ever wrong, Tara.”

“Alright Lady Katara, you can look now. Turn slowly.”

When Katara turned, she didn’t carry the same excitement that had been present at the start of the session. The gown was deep gold, lace and, like everything Fire Nation, clung to her frame and showed off the curves that she’d developed in the past years. The neckline dipped low to the middle of her chest but didn’t strike fear in her heart that one wrong move would ruin the second most important day of her young life. When Katara stared into the mirror that one of the assistants held high in the air, she saw that the back of the dress was nonexistent. Around the edges of the torso eyelet lace embedded with miniscule crystals that reflected every shred of light, swirled in designs that were made to mimic delicate and lazy waves of the ocean. All of the accents of the gown were done in the crimson that had surrounded her constantly since she’d set foot in the palace. It was beautiful, there was no denying that fact, but the gown broke her heart. The only blue and white she saw came from her own eyes gazing back at her.

Azula’s words rang out once again in Katara’s head of all that she was leaving behind by marrying the love of her life. After taking in all she could of the dress, she lowered her eyes to her hands that were spread on her hips. Although the hem of the gown swept the floor, she felt more exposed than ever inside the fabric.

“You don’t like it,” the seamstress stated.

“No, I do. It’s so gorgeous and I couldn’t have asked for a better dress. I’m a little overwhelmed. I need to clear my head.”

The woman seemed doubtful of the response but motioned for her employees to begin undressing the future Fire Lady. Once Katara was back into her everyday clothing, she left the room silently. When she heard hurried footsteps behind her, she slowed expecting Azula to catch up. Ursa’s steps soon synchronized with her own.

“Mind if I join you?”

Katara shrugged one shoulder. “Not really.”

Katara moved past the turtle duck pond to sit by a small body of water that housed a wider variety of Fire Nation aquatic life. As she lowered herself onto a large rock that caught each ray of sun perfectly, Katara listened to the sounds of the fish and tried to imagine that she was in the blistering cold. Instead of the heat of the Fire Nation all but lulled her to sleep. After a long while, she looked at Ursa who hadn’t moved her golden eyes from the face of the waterbender since they’d stopped walking.

“What’s wrong, Katara? Are you having second thoughts about the wedding?”

“Of course not. I love Zuko so much the word doesn’t even being to cover it. I’m scared; I don’t want to lose my culture.”

“So this is about what Azula told you.” Ursa smiled sadly and moved to tuck a loose curl behind Katara’s ear.

Katara turned her big, blue eyes to the older woman. “And the fact that she’s right.”

“Azula is very old fashioned and stuck in the ways of the Fire Nation when her father and grandfather ruled. The idea of a Fire Lady from the Water Tribe would have been unthinkable in those times, yet here you sit about to become just that. Zuko is going to do great things for this nation. The biggest task on his plate is bringing the Fire Nation closer to the others and proving that we aren’t villains that his predecessors made us out to be. One way to do that would be upholding some of your traditions.”

“I don’t want to my traditions to turn into something purely for the motive of politics.”

“Your life is about to get very political. It doesn’t have to be the focus but it’ll certainly be a factor, Katara. You have to accept that at least.” Ursa took Katara’s left hand between both of hers and began to toy with the third finger. “Don’t think of it as losing your culture—because you won’t. Think of it as taking the best parts for the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation and making them into one. That’s what your marriage will be doing with you and Zuko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more chapter that I throw in before I get back to what I had planned out. These last two aren't as detailed and good (I can't think of a better word) as the others because they're the kind of came-to-me-in-the-shower-this-morning chapters. While I'm on this major creative streak, I've been meaning to do a modern AU with Jetara because they are my second favorite involving Katara (who doesn't she look good with honestly). So yeah, if you like that sort of thing be on the look out for it this week. As always, thank you so so so so so much for reading and leaving kudos. It really lets me know that you like my stuff. Until next time loves.


	5. Jewels

“A platinum, sapphire encrusted thin band with a cushion cut, four-point-five carat, flawless diamond surrounded by a micro paving of smaller, flawless diamonds”—the royal jeweler touched each aspect of the engagement ring with his finger as he pointed out the details—“just like you asked, Fire Lord. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Zuko stared at the ring inside of the velvet box and gulped. “This will be all for some time. If all goes well then I’ll contact you with my vision for the wedding bands.”

The jeweler nodded and bowed before rolling his tools delicately inside of a cloth and leaving the room. Zuko tucked the box into the one of the many inside pockets of his traveling robes. He turned his face to the ceiling and prayed to Agni that his stubborn fiancée didn’t write giving her a ring off as a silly Fire Nation tradition she didn’t want to uphold. Since he’d actively decided on designing and giving her a ring that had no ties to his family—if he was totally honest with himself, Zuko admitted that he thought the family ring may have been cursed—he had been a bundles of nerves. He’d never placed so much weight on a piece of jewelry in all his life.

When Zuko left the room, he saw Katara dressed and ready to leave the palace grounds for the first time since she’d returned from the Southern Water Tribe. He could only see half of her since she was turned to talk to Azula, but the sight still took his breath away. The fabric exposed cuts of skin to keep her cool in the oppressive Fire Nation heat made his heart race as he imagined putting his hands over every inch of exposed flesh. The sudden spike in his body heat made him sweat beneath his own clothes that weren’t as groundbreaking.

“Katara, the palanquins are ready. Can I talk to you outside before we go?”

His fiancée turned to him with a smile that caught the light better than the ring in his pocket. “Of course. Zul, I’ll catch up with you later.”

The smart remark that Zuko expected from his sister about the nickname never came. He repressed the urge to ask about when they’d gotten onto a nickname basis. Instead of starting an argument over something as pointless as a confusing friendship, Zuko slipped his arm around Katara’s waist and led the way towards the turtle duck pond. Katara sat on one of the blindingly white stone benches, tried to pull him down beside her and creased her brow when he remained standing. Before she could start to worry, he sank to one knee in front of her. Zuko took two brown hands between his pale ones and stared deeply into the ocean hued eyes that had become such important staples in his daily life. He grabbed onto that unconditional love and dove into his speech.

“Katara, when I asked you to marry me I was terrified that you would say no, but for some reason you didn’t. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone and there’s no one I’d rather have by my side for the rest of eternity. Marriage means so many things, but above all it means sharing. We’ll share our feelings, a family one day and I hope that we can share our cultures sooner rather later.

“The Fire Nation has a tradition similar to the man carving a betrothal necklace. Instead of carving a necklace, however, we design a ring that will be worn until the day of the wedding. From there it will be joined by a simpler band that will be worn until your dying day and one day passed down to our heirs. I have a ring here for you but I want you to know that you can refuse it if you want. My customs are foreign to you and I understand if you don’t see the point in them.”

Katara leaned forward to kiss her future husband lightly. “Zuko, I could never turn away your culture when you’ve been so accepting of mine. As long as I can wear both my ring and my necklace, I’ll be a happy woman.”

“I would never make you sacrifice one part of you for the other. You’ll be both a Fire Nation citizen and a Water Tribe woman. When we have children you’ll teach them about your people and I’ll teach them the good things about mine,” Zuko promised.

“I’m so happy you said that.”

Katara kissed him with a vigor that he didn’t quite understand but was in no frame of mind to question. Before the kisses turned heated and swayed him to cancel their trip into the capital city, Zuko pulled away so that his forehead rested against Katara’s. She moved her cheek against his scar, making him tense for a second before relaxing. Only she could touch the burned flesh and bring forth pleasurable memories where others would have reminded him of the pain of his childhood.

Without pulling away from the contact, Zuko produced the small box. Katara watched as he extracted the brilliant ring that was all blue and white like her home. Tears sprang to her eyes that Zuko quickly kissed away. The ring fit perfectly onto the third finger of her left hand; the Fire Lord had never seen a contrast of jewels against skin that made him feel so _right_ inside. The complete and total adoration that he saw in her eyes brought a broad grin to his face.

“You like it?” he asked hesitantly.

She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I love it.”

“I was hoping you would since you’ll have it for a long time. Let’s go show it off in town.”

Katara allowed herself to be pulled from the bench. On the ride over to the capital city, she looked between her fiancé and the ring that glittered with even the smallest ray of sun. The center diamond was large, made to look even larger by the smaller stones that surrounded it. Already her middle and smallest finger had gotten used to the slight adjustment she had to make to accustom her hand to the added weight. When the two arrived in the capital city, her muscles were tense.

Every single one of the tutors made a point to remind her that the people of the Fire Nation took a long while to get used to Zuko as the Fire Lord. Even though they accepted him now, a few assassination attempts happened every few months. If they had such a hard time getting used to one of their own leading them, how were they ever supposed to not only accept her marrying him and taking up the role as Fire Lady but giving birth to heirs that would carry her Water blood and one day rule them? The thought of being among the people that surely hated her with only Zuko and small guard as protection scared her more than she cared to admit.

Katara walked with her bejeweled hand in Zuko’s and steadily got more comfortable going in and out of shops. More than one merchant asked to see the ring once they’d gotten a glance of it as she ran her fingers through her heavy curls. Each time she confidently talked to a Fire Nation citizen, Zuko smiled and rubbed her back. The displays of affection from the Fire Lord went unnoticed by not one person. On their way back to the palace, a few people that walked looked up with looks of confusion mixed with horror and disgust as Katara reclined her head on Zuko’s shoulder. Neither cared.

“This wasn’t so bad,” Katara admitted around a yawn. “I think I’ll visit some of the hospitals around the Fire Nation to see what they need from the royal family.”

Zuko kissed her forehead and ignored the throat clearing from members of his guard. “That would be lovely. I’m sure they could learn a lot from a master waterbender and healer.”

Katara settled into a more comfortable spot on his shoulder with a small smile. Before she closed her eyes and let the rocking rhythm of the palanquin soothe her to sleep, she savored the beauty of her engagement ring a final time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short because I'm trying to get back to my plans. The next chapter is in the outline and will get me back on track with the story, therefore it will be more detailed. Get ready for some Azula, bending and heart to heart sibling talks. As always thank you so much reading and leaving kudos. If I could send all of you homemade desserts of your choice, man, I would.


	6. Attacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of violence and description that may skeeve people out (it's VERY mild)in this chapter but I figured I'd warn you guys since this fic doesn't have a rating. It starts and ends with “For the purity of the royal family blood!” so if you wanna skip it, start skipping at the first one and pick up reading where the line repeats. Hope you like it.

Katara and Azula moved towards the training area, side by side. When they passed, most of the guards gave each other knowing looks while others went to find the medics that lived in the servants’ wing of the palace. Not a training session with the masters passed where one of them didn’t need to be seen immediately.

“With the speeches Zuzu has been giving on how in debt we are as a nation I’m surprised he had a ring crafted for you,” Azula admitted. “It would have cost nothing to give you Mother’s.”

Katara twisted her mouth to the side and made a mental note to ask for the economic records the next time Zuko felt like being generous. “I haven’t been able to sit in on a single meeting. He still doesn’t think it’s the right time for me to go.”

“The recent meetings have been more boring that watching a tigerdillo sun itself. The Southern Water Tribe is on good terms with us, thanks to you, the Northern Water Tribe doesn’t want to go against the South and ruin any bonds. Our own nation now sees that Zuko isn’t going to take rebellions lying down they’ve stopped trying to usurp his power and kill him. The Earth Kingdom received their reparations for the war and they’re calmed for the moment. There are no talks of war, only money and trade and topics that fail to hold my attention,” Azula explained with a sigh and a casual flick of her hair.

“I’m glad that there aren’t any more threats of war,” Katara said and Azula made a face as she began to stretch for their spar, “but maybe you’re thinking on too big of a scale. Just because there are no threats to the royals doesn’t mean there are no threats at all. The war left a lot of people in poverty or without family. There were a lot of black markets that started booming businesses. Think of those and you’ll find your action and a way to help out the people of your nation. You can also bring jobs by starting a patrol and seeing where it goes from there.”

Azula paused while she reached for her toes. “That’s a good idea, Tara. You know, I’ll talk to Zuzu, as soon as we’re done, about letting you sit in on meetings from now on.”

Katara smiled but her response was lost in the sudden wordless screams from the stands around the training area. A thin man, who couldn’t have been any older than Sokka, stood with a bow and arrow raised towards the pair and screeched.

“For the purity of the royal family blood!”

Azula dropped into a firebending stance and had the first arrow burned to a crisp before Katara fully grasped what was going on. When the attacker went to load another arrow, the waterbender was ready to call upon her element and send a wave towards him. After another, higher pitched scream, more arrows flew from above. Katara and Azula were forced closer together as they tried to simultaneously defend themselves and knock the bowmen from their posts.

“Guards!” Azula bellowed while kicking a missile of fire at the first archer that made himself known.

At the princess’s cry, the guards that stood outside of the training area for their own safety surged in. The first few in the pack were shot by arrows but the others quickly moved into defense mode. With the extra help, both from benders and non-bending fighters alike, the arrows flying through the air lessened until they stopped completely. Unlike the guards that tried to usher Katara and Azula to safety, Azula shoot columns of fire at the sound of retreating feet. Katara put a hand on Azula’s shoulder to calm her, knowing that it was a thin line between Azula exacting vengeance and slipping into the dark place that she had seen years before during a much more important fight.

“Zula, they’re gone. We have get inside now and tell someone what”—Katara’s soothing voice cut off when she felt an arrow pierce her thigh.

When she looked down, she saw half a shaft in front of her leg and the other came through the back of her training pants. The full pain registered as she stared, along with a numb feeling that slowly spread throughout her lower body. Katara’s eyes fluttered and she would have fallen to the ground if a quick thinking guard didn’t reach out to catch her. The numbness began to spread all over and breathing took up more energy than was healthy.

“For the purity of the royal family blood!” an archer screamed once again before running away.

“She’s going into shock. Get a medic immediately and send a message to the royal physician that he’s needed,” Azula ordered. “Take her to her room and one of you tell Zuko instead of standing there twiddling your thumbs.”

The guards left in the training area after the princess hurried along with a small fleet to carry Katara and follow her orders looked at each other. Not one of them wanted to be the unlucky soul to tell the Fire Lord that his fiancée had been the target in an assassination attempt that left her with an arrow in her leg. In the end, the youngest of them all was left hustling down the many corridors from the training area to the Fire Lord’s personal wing.

“Fire Lord Zuko, there has been another assassination attempt.”

Zuko saw sweat pooling on the young man’s face as he struggled to avoid eye contact while still being respectful. “It must not have been a very good one since you’re here telling me about it and I had no idea.”

“You weren’t the target Fire Lord Zuko; Lady Katara was.”

Zuko felt his heart stop in his chest as the world came to a standstill. He’d told her when they’d started dating that not everyone would agree and her life would be in danger. That had been years ago and there had been no attempts on Katara’s life until now. Until he made her go into the capital with him with a ring that so many people commented on and gushed over. It could have been any one of them that tried to kill her. The whole city would have to be wiped out.

“Where is she?” Zuko demanded, the fires in the room reaching a dangerous height for anyone that couldn’t control the flames.

“Her room,” the guard squeaked. “Princess Azula is with her and the physician has been sent for.”

Zuko heard nothing after the location and his sister’s name for he had already pushed past the quaking man and tore off down the hallway. Perhaps it wasn’t a townsperson that ordered the attack after all. He should have known that he couldn’t trust his sister who had suddenly gotten chummy with Katara after trying to kill her on multiple occasions. A low growl started in this throat as he increased his speed. Azula would never see sunlight again. 

Zuko pushed past the guards that stood outside of the bedroom that Katara barely used and saw Azula standing near the bed while a team of medics flitted around his fiancée. When his sister turned he saw concern that mirrored his a lesser degree. His rage ebbed away a little as he made his way to the bed where Katara lay unmoving.

“How could any of you let this happen?” Zuko dropped to his knees to press his lips to Katara’s forehead. It felt colder than usual. “Why isn’t she waking?’

“It was a surprise attack. Katara was hit when I showed a moment of weakness and she tried to comfort me.” Azula explained with her chin in the air but Zuko knew the admission was as close to an apology he was going to get.

“She isn’t waking because the arrow had a poison tip,” the head medic explained. “It’s a common poison but it was a very high dosage, especially for someone that was never exposed to it. We gave her the antidote but it had already spread very far.”

Zuko’s mouth went dry. “But since it was common she’ll be fine right?”

“The physician is on his way,” was the only answer they offered.

Zuko buried his face in Katara’s shoulder and stayed there for a long time. He wished that Katara wasn’t the only healer in the Fire Nation and he wished that the damned physician would hurry but most of all he wished that he’d never put the woman he loved in a position where she would ever end up poisoned and possibly dying. When a hand touched his shoulder, he lifted his head to see the wrinkled face of the man that had treated all of his serious injuries and nursed him to health when he had been the one immobilized by an attempt on his life. Out of all the medically trained citizens of the Fire Nation, there was no one he trusted to care for the love of his life more.

“Please,” Zuko whispered and the man nodded in understanding.

Katara remained unresponsive, save for a few groans in her sleep every now in then that made Zuko leap from his post near her bed, for a week and a half. The Fire Lord canceled all of his meetings and appointments for that timeframe. When it came time to bathe Katara, Azula offered since Zuko didn’t trust anyone to be that close to her and the female medics frowned on him seeing Katara naked—even though he’d taken in her natural beauty dozens of times before. Towards the end of the second week, the wound healed and he knew that he wouldn’t lose her so soon. On one of the rare occasions that he stepped out of the room, he motioned for Azula to follow him.

“I’m very grateful for all of your help, but it makes me wonder why you’re doing it,” Zuko said. “Katara isn’t from the Fire Nation, you don’t need to indebt yourself to her in order to get her to do things for you.”

“That isn’t why I’ve been here as much as you have, brother.”

“Do you feel guilty then?”

“No. I actually care about her recovery.” Azula crossed her arms over her chest. “I know this may come as a shock to you, Mother and Uncle but I, too, can form attachments and bonds. Katara and I have a mutual—budding—friendship.”

“Maybe it’s hard for me to grasp because she’s nothing like Mai and Ty Lee,” Zuko speculated.

Azula’s face soured. “That’s actually why things are going so well. Mai tolerated for me so long because of you, our status and she was most likely a little afraid of me. Ty Lee, well, I know now that she’ll go anywhere Mai goes. They didn’t like me for me, they liked me for what I could do for them and that wasn’t healthy for me. Katara is different, she doesn’t need anything from me and she doesn’t want anything either. She cares and makes me feel safe.”

“I know what you mean about that. It’s in the way she looks at you and you want to tell her everything,” Zuko added.

“That’s exactly it. I know you don’t trust me fully yet, I saw it on your face when you walked in after you heard that she had been hurt—”

“I’m really trying, Azula. I’m trying to make everything better and I’m trying to forgive everyone and I’m trying to be the best man that I can be for Katara,” Zuko interrupted.

“I was going to say that I don’t blame you for not being all the way there. Along with gaining a friendship with Katara, she lets me talk about feelings that I buried until I thought I no longer had them. I don’t expect you to forgive me when I haven’t managed to forgive myself for everything that I’ve done. It’s okay if you still hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. I’m not one hundred percent sure what I feel towards you sister because things have changed so much in such a short time but I know it’s not hate.”

Azula’s golden eyes slid shut and she breathed deeply. Zuko couldn’t help but feel that talk, although short, had shifted a major piece of their brother-sister dynamic. Before the two could strike up the conversation again, a medic opened the door with an excited expression. Neither sibling needed words to know that the waterbender whom they’d talked about was awake. After a good bout of pushing, Azula made it over the threshold first.

“Zuko, before you do anything rash, Azula was helping me,” Katara said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“He just brought me back from the tower,” Azula joked. “I singlehandedly managed to knock you cold for almost two weeks.”

Katara’s blue eyes bulged. “Two weeks! We’re going to be late.”

“Late to what?” Azula asked as Zuko moved to stop Katara from rising.

“We have to get a boat ready right now,” Katara said, fighting against the strong arm that held her to the bed. “Zuko, would you let me go? I have to get ready.”

“You were poisoned. The only thing you’re doing is getting checked out and recovering, I’ll write a letter and explain that we’ll be a little late getting to the Southern Water Tribe. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“Why are you going back so early?” Azula asked but she was ignored as the soon-to-be newlyweds glared at each other.

“ _I_ am a Water Tribe woman. No poison in the world is strong enough to delay my wedding.”

“It’s my wedding too and I say you’re not well enough to stick to your strict schedule. Katara. I’m sorry.”

“There are preparations that were made. This is the date we have to stick to. The spirits were consulted and the invitations were sent out,” Katara insisted.

When she tried to stand, her knees shook and buckled. Zuko caught Katara with ease and gently pushed her back onto the bed. “I’ll get the fastest ship so we make it on time but there’s no way we’re leaving today or even tomorrow. You need to rest.”

Katara huffed in defeat but didn’t try to rise again. From that small movement, her chest rose and fell rapidly and sweat misted her forehead. Even though Zuko knew that he’d probably be dealing with the repercussions of his decision until they touched the snow of her home, he didn’t regret making sure she was at full health before their departure at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so the first wedding (this is a wedding fic after all) is coming up soon. You'll see some more characters from the show once it gets to the Southern Water Tribe so yay for that. Also, if you feel like I didn't do Mai and Ty Lee justice while Azula was talking about them, don't fret because they'll make an appearance and the trinity will be reunited. Another thing, in this Katara and Azula are 20 and Zuko is 22 so any changes that you think Azula made in her character and temperament, happened over six years of reflecting on herself and therapy that she was able to get. I didn't just pretend that mental health issues can do a full 180 in a matter of months; notice how she isn't all the way there yet. I think that's about all, sorry that this note is so long. Once again, thank you for reading,it makes me feel so good that people are seeing my work. Thank you for all your kudos as well, if there's anything I didn't address in this note (or a cool idea you have for an event in the fic) drop me a comment or a message and let me know.


	7. Demonstrations

Zuko groaned as his hand felt at his side for Katara but only reached cold, unfamiliar bedding. After a few moments of fruitless searching, he forced his eyes open and took in his surroundings. The Fire Nation ship had docked only the night before in the Southern Water Tribe and both he and Katara had been bone tired when their guard led them onto the ice block that his fiancée used to call home. A smile lit his face when he thought of how little sleep he had gotten on that boat and how much he wished they could have taken an extra week to reach their destination.

            His musings were cut off when the door to his borrowed room was flung open with so much force it hit the wall beside it. Hakoda and Sokka stood at the threshold already dressed in thick, blue and white furs. Zuko narrowed his golden eyes at the various sharp tools that his best friend carried over one arm.

            “Wake up, Fire Lord,” Hakoda ordered in his deep voice, “We’re going on a little trip today.”

            “You’ll catch the main course for your wedding today; we’ll bond as future family members and then you’ll spend a few days in our very own spirit oasis to cleanse yourself. Aren’t you a lucky guy,” Sokka teased.

            “Can I have a moment to get ready?” Zuko asked. He removed his blankets slowly and tried not to flinch from the cold in front of his future father-in-law.

            “Sure. You know where the bathroom is. Bathe quickly and there may be some breakfast left over for you,” Hakoda said.

            Zuko waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps in the hall to wrap the blankets around himself again and stuff his feet into his boots. Regulating his body temperature took energy that he didn’t know if we would need later in the day. When he filled the bath tub—thank Agni the end of the war had brought plumbing to the Southern Water Tribe—he caved slightly and used his bending to make it steam. The warmth enveloped him but his stomach growling made sure he got out before Sokka demolished all of the food.

            When Zuko entered the dining room, his eyes immediately spotted Katara seated on a cushion before the low table next to Suki. His breath caught in throat as he took in the varying shades of blue that complimented her dark skin so well. With all the scarlet in the Fire Nation, he’d all but forgotten how beautiful Katara was in the color of her element instead of his.

            “Did you freeze to the floor?” Gran-Gran asked around a mouthful of otterpenguin eggs. “Sit down and get something in you before you head out.”

            Zuko made his way to the empty space next to Katara but Hakoda cleared his throat and patted the cushion next to him. Four sets of blue eyes and one pair of green sparkled with laughter as they watched him awkwardly sit.

            “So Zuko, did Sokka tell you what you’re doing today?” Katara asked as she heaped her plate with fried artic hen. He made a mental note to get that added to the breakfast menu at the palace.

            Sokka waved a greasy fork in front of Zuko’s face. “Don’t tell her. She’s not supposed to know what we _men_ do before a wedding.”

            “What are you doing today?” Zuko countered.

            “I’m teaching my class today. Pakku says they missed me and I have so much to show them.”

            “I think they miss your style of bending. It’s based more on impulse than my formal style.” Zuko watched as the old man smiled fondly at his step-granddaughter. “You’ve taught them to go against structure in a way that only you could.”

            Katara gleamed under the praise. “I couldn’t teach them any other way.”

            Zuko tore himself away from staring at Katara in sheer adoration when Hakoda tapped his arm. “Are you ready to go, Fire Lord? We should get into the boat before the waves pick up.”

            “I’m ready,” Zuko lied and tried not to look at his mostly full plate before him.

            “You sure you don’t want to eat a little more of that?” Sokka asked. “I don’t know how much you catch your own food as the Fire Lord and all but it’s no easy task.”

            “I put food on the ship,” Katara announced. “I know Sokka eats every other hour and I also know that Zuko barely eats in the morning.”

            Suki poked her sister-in-law in the side and smirked. “Aren’t you considerate of everyone’s needs?”

            Katara rolled her eyes before standing and motioning for Zuko to follow her away from the dining room. He moved after her quickly so that her father didn’t have the chance to put a stop to it. Once they were in the hall with a bit of distance between them and the other occupants of the house, Katara stood on her toes and kissed Zuko.

            “Don’t let Dad intimidate you; he likes you but he’s trying to seem scary to test out what you’re made of. I have faith that you can deal with Sokka teasing you as long as you don’t let that temper of yours get to you.” She kissed him again and he put his hands on her hips. “You don’t have to stick to tradition today. This is a test to see what you’ll bring to the marriage that some other man can’t. Be you.”

            Zuko put his forehead to Katara’s. “I’ll keep all of that mind. I love you, Katara.”

            “I love you, too. Don’t get yourself killed today.”

            “Fire Lord,” Hakoda called, “It’s time to go.”

            Katara squeezed Zuko’s hand in her own and watched him leave with her father, brother and step-grandfather. Four out of the five most important men were spending the day together; nerves settled deep within her stomach.

            Once the men had left Katara helped Suki and her grandmother clean off the dishes. Gran-Gran wanted to do nothing more than ask about Zuko and the Fire Nation that they’d all grown up to hate but suddenly had to change their minds about. Katara was more than happy to tell them about her fiancé and new home. She hadn’t noticed how attached she’d the blisteringly hot palace until it was time to recount every item in perfect detail.

            “I can’t wait until the second wedding; I have to see all of this in person to see if it’s all as brilliant as you make it seem,” Gran-Gran chuckled.

            “Once you go you won’t want to leave for a long time,” Katara warned, “We can have a room set up for you if you want.”

            “I’ll think about it. You two go off, you have classes to teach.”

            Katara kissed her grandmother lightly on the cheek before looping her arm through Suki’s. The two walked the short distance from Sokka expansive home, which had been built by water benders from both tribes as a gift when he became chief, to the meeting area for their classes. When the young benders saw Katara, they cheered before running to hug her. She wrapped her arms around as many of them as she could; nothing compared to seeing little blue eyes stare at her with so much love and appreciation.

            “I take it you all missed me. Well, the feeling is mutual. I brought all of you a little gift.” Katara held her hands up at their shell-shocked expressions. “It’s not something physical. I’ve been working closely with the princess of the Fire Nation and we’ve been sharing bending secrets and techniques. You may want to sit down, what I’m about to show you is awesome.”

            Suki took a seat in the powder soft snow along with the students as Katara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment, she started to go through the most basic of water bending forms to get a hold on her element. Once she could feel every ounce of water around her along with every speck of snow, Katara switched from the soft lull of water bender to aggressive strikes of fire bending. Of course, her control of her element was much shakier with the moves that weren’t meant to be used to control it but it still responded. She finished with a jump that was made clumsy by her heavy furs and directed a jet of water with her foot before using her hand to send it to the ground, taking care to freeze it as the drops soared towards the sky.

            The students and Suki clapped and hooted while the elders that had come to watch the strange display of bending frowned. Katara beamed at the appreciative group while trying to ignore the sets of stares burning holes into the back of her head. Once the roar died down, Katara separated her benders from Suki’s warriors and moved them to their designated area.

            “When can we learn the forms that you did?” Olokun, Katara’s student that was closer to becoming a master than all of them, asked as he molded his water whip into animal after animal.

            “Long after you’ve mastered water. It takes a lot more out of you than you think and I showed you guys the most basic fire bending forms that I know.” She crouched next to him and turned his miniature flying bison to ice. “You know, if you want to see some of the harder stuff, you could ask Sifu Zuko _very_ nicely to show you and the others tonight at the gathering. You could even try and copy his moves once he’s done bending. I’m sure he would be more than happy to show you.”

            The boy grinned excitedly and turned the bison to water again. “Thank you, Master Katara. I’ll do just that.”

            When Katara rose, she saw the elders standing on the very edge of the lesson grounds. With a sigh, she told her students to pair off according to their skill level and spar, and moved to the semicircle. The frowns that adorned their brown, worn faces deepened with every step that she took. Once Katara reached them, she bowed low at the waist and willed herself not to become snappy no matter what they said.

            “Master Katara, that was a rather… interesting demonstration you treated our young ones too some time ago,” Minnehaha, the oldest elder, said.

            “It’s simply something I learned in my time away from the Southern Water Tribe,” Katara replied evenly.

            “We’ve let you, the first water bender of our tribe in quite some time, go off to the Fire Nation to marry the man you love. We’ve let you have a second wedding the Fire Nation even though one here would be enough to tell the world that you are a married woman. We’ve let you make a home in the Fire Nation because you had no intentions to return. We did _not_ allow you to leave your people so that you could poison your bending and in time the minds and bending of those who chose to stay. We fear the Fire Nation is doing you a disservice, Master Katara.”

            Katara took a lesson from Azula and took four deep breaths before opening her mouth. “With all due respect, our tribe has always been one that our people to marry for love. With that stated, you did not _let_ me do any of the things that you previously mentioned. They have been my right since I was born to this tribe.”

            “While that may be, how do you explain your command of your element with fire bending forms?” Hiawatha, Minnehaha’s husband, asked.

            “That stemmed from my own interest and project that Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang have had in mind since the end of the war. Zuko is able to use a few water bending forms in his own bending which were taught to him by his uncle who learned them from watching water benders. I wondered if other elements could adapt in the same way so I tried it and found that it’s possible.

            “As for the project, Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang want a way to unify the nations. They’ll hopefully construct a common ground for people of all nationalities to come together in peace and this could be a step to show that we all really can coexist in harmony. If benders from any element can use forms from all the others then we must not be so different after all. It will make everything go much smoother in the transition,” Katara explained.

            The elders pursed their lips and glanced at each other. “We have lived much longer than you have, Katara. It’s not right when people don’t stick to their own. You’ve already pushed things by marrying outside of our two tribes—to the _Fire Lord_ no less—don’t spend your short time in your homeland trying to push a unifying agenda by making a mockery of your element.”

            Katara’s brow came together and her tongue felt like a razor sharp dagger inside her mouth. The elders must have seen the sudden change in her calm demeanor because they started their slow, synchronized gait away from the lesson area and towards her brother’s home.

            In all the hours that she’d spent trading forms with Azula, Katara hadn’t thought that anyone would disapprove of the sharing of cultures. Nothing was being stolen or defied, both parties were partaking an equal exchange. After a round of deep breathing, Katara went back to her students and dismissed the lesson. She walked towards the ocean, far away from the prying eyes of the elders, and began to go through a mixture of water and fire bending storms. Who were they to try and shut down her exploration of knowledge? Learning multiple bending styles wasn’t wrong. She knew the dialect of her people, Zuko’s and the ancient language of the Air Nomads that Aang had cared to teach her during their short travels after the war. What made styles of controlling her element so different?

            When Zuko came ashore after a long day of fishing so strenuous it made muscles ache that he hadn’t even known he’d had, the first thing he saw was a burst of icicles that looked as if they would pierce the clouds. Sokka, Hakoda and Pakku stood in awe but Zuko knew the sign of his angry fiancée. Something had put her on edge enough to go through the most violent bending forms that she knew. He questioned Azula’s influence once again as he jogged to the center of the storm.

            “Katara!” he called, “What happened?”

            She sent up a final pillar of ice and didn’t bother to melt it before turning to him. “The elders accused me of making a mockery of my element by incorporating fire bending forms. They still thought it after I explained how much good it could do for helping to unify the nations one day. This is a major discovery.”

            “You don’t have to convince me. I’m already on your side.” He pulled her into a tight hug and let some of his body heat leak through her furs until she visibly relaxed. “Not everyone will agree with what we’re doing. If we let every negative opinion affect us we’d never get anything done.”

            Zuko talked about more than the bending and he could tell that she understood. Katara shifted in his arms to look up at him. It was a view that he could never get tired of even after a million years of gazing down at her.

            “You’re right. I won’t let it get to me anymore.”

            “We both know that’s not possible. Let it fuel you to make things really happen; show them that your ideas are valid and worth following through,” Zuko suggested.

            “Is that what you do during your meetings?” Katara teased.

            “Yes. I figured, once we get back to the Fire Nation, you should sit in on some of them. Maybe two or three out of the week. You’ll be my wife and therefore official, hands on training for your role as Fire Lady should begin. There’ll be no time after the second wedding since you’re ceremony will be a few days at most after our nuptials.”

            Katara beamed at him. “I promise not to freeze a councilman to his seat during any of them.”

            “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sweet. Plus, I think that would liven those boring meetings up a bit. I can barely stay awake during half of them.”

            Zuko let his head fall forward to make sure his point hit home. When the woman he had no plans of ever letting go let out the most beautiful, tinkling laugh he’d ever heard, he had no choice but to smile and laugh along with her. He quickly brushed his lips against her forehead, afraid that anything more would permanently freeze his lips to her skin due to the cold air. Not that he would mind that too much.  

            “I told one of my students that you would show him a bit of fire bending tonight at the gathering,” Katara admitted. “You don’t have to but he was fascinated with the forms I did today.”

            “I’d love to as long as you’re there to rebuild anything that I might melt.”

            “Our buildings are made to within a blast of fire. As long as you don’t direct a steady stream at a structure for too long it’ll be fine.”

            Zuko tensed. “Preparing for another Fire Nation invasion?”

            “Don’t be ridiculous. Sokka is Chief and his inventions get crazier by the day. He’s on his second house because he caused a massive blast of fire in the first while working on some gadget—that he never finished—for the warriors and left Suki and himself in my father’s home until I could get the Northern benders here to help me rebuild.”

            “That sounds like an interesting process. I’ll have to ask one of the Northern benders to give me a demonstration during the wedding reception.”

            Katara’s ocean colored eyes sparkled with laughter that Zuko didn’t know the joke that caused it. “You won’t have to do that. You’ll find out soon enough.”

            The Fire Lord wanted to ask what exactly she meant but in that moment Sokka crunched his way through the snow to tell them to get inside to help with putting the food on ice and cooking for the gathering. He felt Katara’s gloved hand wrapped around his and forgot any and all questions. She often had that effect on him.

            He was barely any help when it came to cooking so he was stuck with carrying most of the food towards the gathering. Zuko sat near Katara and let some of his heat leak towards her with every exhale. Katara’s family and the highest members of the tribe sat in their section while the other citizens milled about the various other sections. Zuko strained his ear to hear all of the different stories, events of the day and conversations that we’re going on around him. After nearly falling face first into the snow at his feet, the Fire Lord decided to pay attention to the history that the elders shared in vivid detail.

            When Sokka saw Zuko losing interest, he leaned over to whisper in his ear. “You should pay attention; on your wedding night you’ll be expected to share one of the ancient stories of our tribe that hasn’t been said already.”

            “If all else fails I can sneak something in from the Fire Nation. No one will be the wiser.”

            “If you value your life I wouldn’t try to pull a fast one over on these elders. I have a scar right on my side from trying to pass off an Air Nomad fruit as a successful fusion.”

            Zuko laughed loudly and earned a glare from all of their elders but small smiles from everyone else. It was obviously that the elders hated him but he couldn’t exactly blame them. Only a few short years before he’d come to the tribe in search of the Avatar and didn’t care about their tiny little village. He had changed, yes, but no one besides those who had fought with him believed that with any sort of conviction.

            When the story finished, Zuko led his section in a round of applause. After he shook the hand of each elder individually, he turned and saw a group of young benders staring at him with helpful eyes. Katara nudged his hip and gave him a smile of encouragement. It would have been comforting to have her by his side during the lesson but he understood her need to talk to as many of her people as she could during their short visit.

            “Okay, you all might want to stand back. This could get a bit dangerous.”

Zuko looked at the quickly growing group for longer than necessary to add weight to the moment before starting a sequence of advanced fire bending moves. The sounds of astonishment urged him to make his pyrotechnic display more flamboyant as time went on. He sent sparks into the air and conducted them into shapes once they reached the dark sky. While he molded the flames into the symbols of the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe, he turned to see Katara grinning at him with so much love it nearly stopped his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long. I wrote a chapter, decided it wasn't needed to progress this then started work on another chapter. That second chapter ended up becoming this and this is kind of long to make up for the wait. I'm also bone tired as I'm uploading this so I can put money on the fact that there will be some typos; I'll try and go back later in the week and clean this up a bit. Alright, so the wedding should be in the next chapter (don't hold me to that, I have some plans for Azula that may take up a chapter) and you'll get to see some more characters from the show next chapter as well. Exciting stuff. As always, the names for the tribes-people comes from either real mythology or stories about Native Americans. I put in research for you guys! I can't thank all my readers enough and everyone who leaves me kudos. You all rock and I hope the typos don't stop you from enjoying this too much.


	8. Arrivals

Zuko knew exactly when the ships full of guests arrived in the South Pole. To be clear, the guest from the North had been there for at least a week and gave him dirty looks whenever he happened to cross any of their paths. When they saw him and Katara together the looks transformed from dirty to murderous. He would have been lying if he said that the presence of people clad in something other than hues of blue didn’t relieve him. The thought left his head almost as soon as he saw Azula step into the snow, fully dressed in the Fire Nation military uniform that had become outdated two years into his reign. The Water Tribe members pushed their small children behind their backs and shot her apprehensive glances.

            “Azula,” Katara trilled and smiled at her friend. The pale girl gave what was as close to a smile as Zuko had seen since his sister hit puberty, and put a hand on his fiancée’s shoulder.

            “Did you really have to wear that?” he muttered under his breath.

            “It was the warmest thing I had. Unlike Mother, I refuse to wear blue. Uncle was upset he couldn’t come but he wouldn’t let me take his position of watching over the nation.” Azula sniffed and blew blue fire gently into her palms.

            “The rest of the world kind of likes not being in a war,” Toph, who came around to clap a hand on Zuko’s shoulder—when had she gotten so tall—said.

            Katara hugged her friend, using the snow as a cover to her intentions. “Toph, I’m glad you made it on time.”

            “I only threw up four times on the way here. That’s a new record. I couldn’t get in touch with Twinkletoes, I hear him and Sokka are working on some kind of machine that can stay in the air for a long time,” Toph told.

            Zuko tugged on his collar as Katara glanced at him. Azula narrowed her golden eyes at the two of them and turned to the blind girl who was at her eye level. “From the expression on their faces, which I’ll gladly interpret, the Avatar won’t be joining the festivities.”

            Toph’s sightless eyes moved in a way that seemed to focus on her friends. “I mean we all knew that it was a possibility but I thought he would be a good friend and at least come to see you two get married. It’s been four years.”

            “He has time,” Katara insisted stubbornly, “there’s still two whole days. Plus, there are two weddings that he has a chance to go to.”

            “Katara,” Zuko started but she held up a hand.

            “It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ll show Toph and Zula to where they’ll be staying. My dad wants to meet your mom but when they’re done talking you can show her to her rooms,” Katara instructed.

            When the trio of women moved away a fleet of men dressed in the greens of the Earth Kingdom and another of men dressed in brilliant reds and golds who all nodded to the Fire Lord as they passed, followed. After he lost sight of his fiancée, Zuko turned back to the boats that we docking. His mother gazed over the railing of the largest boat there, staring in awe at the vastness of the snow. The fact that there were more Earth Kingdom boats than Fire Nation wasn’t lost on him. Not only did he barely have friends that lived in his own nation, Katara didn’t either.

            One boat in particular caught his attention and made him curse Suki under his breath. Young children crowded around the group of Kyoshi warriors that looked at them stoically and waited for their former leader. Even under the heavy white makeup, Zuko would have known Mai’s stature and facial features anywhere. While Katara was upset that her ex had decided to skip out on the happy time, he wished that his had thought to do the same. He didn’t care if he looked obvious or not when he turned on his heel and marched back towards the house that he shared with Katara’s family. Ursa could find someone else to bring her in.

            “Zuko,” Hakoda called, “shouldn’t you be out greeting your guests? They came all this way for you and Katara.”

            “I got too cold to stand outside,” Zuko lied.

            From the look his future father-in-law gave him, Zuko could see that he didn’t buy it. “You’re a fire bender, you could have easily warmed yourself. I happen to know that Suki’s warriors were to set to arrive at about this time and a certain woman who was once connected to you is among them. This is just a hunch but I think that’s the reason why you’re really hiding out in here.”

            “I’m a coward aren’t I?” Zuko asked.

            “I’d never call the Fire Lord a coward.” Hakoda didn’t deny that he thought Zuko was indeed one. “I think you owe it to not only Mai, but Katara, to go out there and at least be civil. What does it say about your feelings for my daughter if you hide from a woman you once loved? Are there feelings that still run deep?”

            “Of course not,” Zuko balked.

            “Then at least ask if the woman had a nice trip.”

            Zuko rose and moved towards the door. As he was about to force himself into the tundra, his mother—complete with a nose reddened from the cold—came in. The perfect excuse to stay in came to mind when he saw her. It flew away on a new age glider when he saw that she was engrossed in a conversation with Gran-Gran. With a sigh, he waited for them to pass before going out in the blinding sun again.

            The sight that awaited him at the circle that had been a fire pit for the past few days took his breath away. Mai and Katara sat close with their heads bent together and their words hushed. His stomach dropped and he gave them a wide arc of space as he walked to find a group that was less likely to turn hostile towards him. Sokka, Suki and Toph seemed like the safest bet but he’d have to go past Azula and Ty Lee. His sister had her body tensed but she was leaning away from the girl instead of towards her as he’d seen before Azula attacked a councilmen that called her ideas subpar.

            “I can understand Mai, she was upset about Zuko, but you didn’t have to leave me,” Azula said. “I was all alone until Katara moved into the palace and neither of you bothered to contact me. I was locked away for so long and no one visited me but Zuko and my… Zuko and Ursa.”

            “I’m valuable to the Kyoshi warriors,” Ty Lee replied, her voice small.

            “You were valuable to me! You two were my best friends and you up and left me. Did I mean anything to you at all or when I fell from grace as princess of the Fire Nation did you no longer care?”

            “Azula, how could you think that? Of course we care for you; Mai always sticks up for you when she hears the other girls talk about you and Zuko.”

            Azula snorted. “Of course she sticks up for Zuko. Will you come back then, now that you know that I didn’t take you for granted?”

            “I can’t,” Ty Lee whispered.

            “These girls mean more to you even though you haven’t known them for as long as you knew me?” For the first time in his life Zuko thought he heard his sister’s voice crack.

            “No, it’s not that—”

            “Then what is it?”

            “Mai and I are together now. _Together_ , Azula, and I couldn’t up and leave her. I love her.”

            Zuko nearly sputtered in astonishment. When Mai had said that there was someone else and walked out of his life it had never crossed his mind to think that that someone could be Ty Lee. Agni, it had never crossed his mind to think that that someone else could be another woman. When he glanced over at Katara and his ex, who were unabashedly watching him from their seats, his feelings towards the latter shifted.

            “Are you done eavesdropping on personal conversations or would you like another scar on your chest to match the one you have?” Azula threatened.

            “I was just moving along,” Zuko said and went to stand with Sokka, Suki and Toph.

            Once all of the guests were settled in, Zuko pulled Katara into the house and blew on her hands to warm them up. Even though he knew he didn’t need to syphon her body heat, he used the excuse to remove his mittens and put his hands inside her thick fur coat. It was the first time he had touched skin somewhere other than her face since they had left the boat.

            “Did you and Mai have a nice chat?” he asked and tried to keep his face impassive.

            Katara put her head on his chest and he wished there wasn’t so many layers between them. “Yes. She told me that if we ever get around to having children, she’d like to teach them how to throw needles. I thought it would be a good idea for them to learn multiple ways to defend themselves.”

            “We can get someone else to teach them that. She’s not getting her needles within a hundred kilometer radius of our children,” Zuko dismissed. “Was that all you talked about?”

            “After that we compared how you were in bed.” Katara laughed as Zuko sputtered. “We didn’t talk about you at all, Zuko. She has more interesting things to do with her life than to dwell on the past.”

            “Did you know she and Ty Lee are together? Like us together,” he blurted.

            Katara looked up at him with her eyebrows higher than usual. “You mean you didn’t know?”

            “You did?”

            “Everyone did. Do you really think I would have talked to her so easily if I didn’t think she had moved on from my fiancé? I would have been on your arm the entire day.”

            Zuko almost wished that the relationship hadn’t been such common knowledge. “Azula didn’t know.”

            “The hype had died by the time you let her out of the impromptu prison.” She paused to give him the disapproving look that she always adopted when they talked of what he’d done with his younger post-war. “Why you thought locking someone with a mental illness away for a year and a half is beyond me.”

            “She tried to kill me, and you, many many many times. She was in prison for her crimes not her condition,” he reminded for the utmost time.

            “She was sick. When we get back home and I’m allowed to go to meetings I’m bringing up proper housing and treatment for the mentally ill up,” she warned.

            Zuko’s face split into a smile almost as radiant as fresh snow. “When we get back where?”

            “Home.” Katara screwed up her warm brown face. “Are you feeling alright?”

            “Perfectly. It makes me happy to hear you refer to the Fire Nation as your home.”

            He bent slightly so he could plant a kiss on her lips. A low groan sounded in both of their throats at the connection. The sweet moment was broken when the door to the house opened.

            “Gah! Get off my sister. I still have my boomerang and know how to use it!” Sokka shouted as he pulled the two apart.

            Katara woke the next morning with her stomach in knots and jitters running along her arms and legs. Not only was it the last day before the wedding, it was Building Day. She had walked Zuko through the tradition tons of times while they curled into each other in the Fire Nation. Since they’d gotten to the South Pole she hadn’t seen him construct so much as a snowball to prepare. Still, she had faith in her fiancé that always seemed to pull something together.

            After dressing in her warmest clothes to prepare for a full day outside, Katara braided her hair before twisting the plait into a bun at the base of her head. When she left the room, Zuko was standing in front of her Gran-Gran who was tightly wrapping a thick scarf from his neck to his nose. From the way his golden eyes sparkled she could tell that he was smiling at her.

            “Ready to spend a grueling day building a home?” she asked and offered her gloved hand.

            Zuko took it gladly. “How big does it have to be again?”

            “Right now it’s just the essentials. We’ll build the four walls, a place to prepare and eat food, a sitting room and a bedroom.” At this she nudged his hip with hers. “After the first anniversary we would add onto it with one more room. It’s supposed to teach closeness but we won’t be staying for a year.”

            “So, the next time we visit, we won’t have to stay with Sokka?” Zuko asked, “That sounds like a beautiful thing.”

            “It’ll be hard,” Katara warned.

            Zuko brought his face down to hers as if he was going to kiss her but then remembered his mouth was hidden and his words were muffled. “This is only the first of many things I want to build with you. I’m ready.”

            “I love you.” Katara stretched up to wrap her arms around his neck and press herself close to him.

            Zuko moved his scarf to place a kiss on the crown of her head. “Love isn’t a strong enough word for what we share.”

            Katara and Zuko held each other while people milled about outside. Due to the cold, there wasn’t a lot of Fire Nation guests out to see their current and future leader behaving in such an undignified manner. The two broke apart once they heard Sokka who, as Chief, would kick off the Building. He was clad in his ceremonial furs that marked his as true position. The citizens of the South Pole deeply inclined their heads while the visitors showed their respect in ways native to their homes. Katara touched her chin to her chest while Zuko bowed low at the waist. Azula wrinkled her nose but followed the example of her old brother who outranked her and set the distance for the rest of his people.

            “The Building of your home will show how well you two can work together. This is a skill that is important for any marriage, you will able to communicate in any way that you wish but you will not be allowed to touch each other more than two times. Since the two of you are benders, you may utilize that skill,”—Sokka paused to smirk at Zuko—“however helpful it may be. Make the home sturdy enough to withstand your wedding night and many years to come. The home crumbling is a symbol that your marriage will as well. Best of luck.”

            Katara turned to Zuko. He looked as nervous as he had the day he asked her to marry him. She went to rub his back then thought better of it. They only had two times to touch each other and she didn’t want to waste one on hugging him if she ever needed to pull him out of the way of a slab of ice. Instead, she shot him a smile that she hoped was reassuring.

            The Building started slowly, with Katara calling out instructions to Zuko as he hesitantly packed snow together to form a wall. After the first wall was made with Katara bending the snow of his bricks together to smooth it and make sure no cracks allowed cold air to seep through, they no longer needed to talk. Same as their relationship, the two switched between setting the groundwork and adding the fine touches to the house. Once the first three walls were finished, Katara stood aside as Zuko called upon a controlled stream of fire to go deeper into the snow. She held the edges of the snow with bending, ultimately creating a doorframe that would lead to where they stored food. The couple paused to smile at each other when the lower level room was constructed.

            Throughout the course of the day, Katara and Zuko bent and built tirelessly with only a few short breaks to shovel seal jerky into their mouths. The only constant figures were Sokka, Hakoda and Ursa. The rest moved away periodically to fulfill their own needs or find something more exciting. After the house was fully made, Ursa walked through with snow crunching under her heavy boots and white wisps of breath flowing from her mouth that was wide with astonishment. Zuko glowed under her silent praise; Katara basked in his unmistakable happiness.

            “Well, it’s done. We’ll see how well it holds up after tomorrow,” Sokka said. He made a face after he realized just how the newly built home would be put to use for the first time.

            “Won’t we have to buy furniture?” Zuko asked.

            “Your wedding gifts will be your furniture.” Hakoda informed, “What do you give for wedding gifts in the Fire Nation?”

            “Money, clothing, small decoration items, baby items if you wish to send a message,” Ursa answered.

            “Really? I’d like to learn more about the Fire Nation if you’re willing to talk.” Hakoda offered his arm which the Fire Lady gladly took.

            When Sokka made a move to go after them he paused to glare at Zuko. “What is it with you Fire Nation royals? Is there some ancient sacrifice that makes you irresistible to Water Tribe people?”

            Katara looked up at Zuko teasingly. “Is there?”

            Zuko grinned, something he’d done often since getting engaged to Katara. “Fire Nation royalty secret. You’ll learn it after you marry into the family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sorry that this took well over a month, first it came from the fact that I was busy with getting everything together to graduate then I thought no one really cared for this story. Thanks a whole bunch to Charlotte who showed me that there's at least one person who wants me to keep going and that's all I need. So without further ado, here's the next chapter. I'll try and update more often but since I have prom and graduation coming up it might only be once or twice a week (I should really set an update day). Enjoy and thank you so much again.


	9. Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo! The first wedding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so this may have a few typos since I was so excited I just wanted to get it out there. I'll most likely go back tomorrow and fix them. So sorry for the wait, I graduate on Friday so that's been eating a lot of my time. All of the kudos that you leave me are so very motivating as well as the comments.   
> This is a little longer than usual but I felt like it needed to be. Without further ado.

It was astonishing that Katara had managed to sleep at all on the night before the wedding. Yet there she was, bleary eyed and being woken by Gran-Gran so she could get ready for Zuko’s arrival. A heavy stone sat in her stomach over having her grandmother there to twist and maneuver her hair instead of her mother. She took a moment to bow her head and let a few tears fall.

            Gran-Gran stroked her back. “I know child. Do not think for a second that she isn’t watching you from the Spirit World and glowing with happiness. You’re marrying the man you love and not just the man that the world thought you should end up with.  He’ll be here in an hour. I let you sleep for a little while longer.”

            “How will his procession go? Uncle is still in the Fire Nation and Zuko has no representative for his family.” Katara felt her breath quicken; the wedding was going to be ruined. Or even worse, their wedding would be forever cursed with bad luck.

            “Do not worry, Katara. Everything has been sorted and everything will be fine. Now, let’s get you into your first furs.”

            Katara allowed Gran-Gran to finish molding her dark, heavy curls into a waterfall of small braids that looped under her ocean of curls that were lifted slightly to expose the high neck of her first ceremonial furs. They were a dark blue with a high neck and a lighter blue trim. Through the day, her furs would steadily get lighter until the actual marriage ceremony. She felt closer to her mother than ever, knowing that Kya had worn the garb before her.

            Finally, after bugging everyone in the home to make sure that the food was perfect, that were enough seats and that all of their fireworks were ready, Katara resigned herself to her room to wait for Zuko and whoever he brought along with him. After what felt like eons, she heard the quick succession of pops from fireworks. Once the brilliant colors faded from the bright sky—of course a Fire Nation groom had to bring flare to the fireworks—Hakoda and Sokka sent off their answering rounds. Upon hearing that sound, the tribespeople came out of their house to watch. The day long marriage was finally underway.

            “Please welcome us into your home and grant our Zuko permission to marry your Katara,” Katara heard Azula rasp, “I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation royal family, here to serve as the representative of the Fire Nation royal family.”

            Katara almost fell over. Of all people they could have chosen, they went with Azula. It didn’t seem to effect Gran-Gran, who acted as the representative of Katara’s own family, who welcomed the girl and invited her to introduce the rest of the procession.

            “This is Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation royal family, standing in for Zuko’s father.” The audience that had gathered clapped as the elderly man was welcomed into the home and Katara’s jaw dropped. “This is Fire Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation royal family, and the groom is your permission is granted. This is Fire Lady Ursa of the Fire Nation royal family. Lastly, this is the Toph Bei Fong, of the Bei Fong family, close friend of Fire Lord Zuko.”

            Katara’s mouth went dry. Only five people which meant five gifts. An odd number of gifts meant that bad luck would fall onto the marriage.

            “Each of us bears two gifts for your family,” Azula went on and many people issued a sigh of relief.

            Gran-Gran introduced Hakoda, Sokka, Suki, Ty Lee and Mai before a long pause happened. Katara rose and prepared for her grand entrance as she heard her father climb the stairs that led to her room. Zuko and his family, along with Toph, presented their gifts. Everything within the lacquered boxes, covered with a rich blue cloth, was meant to bring luck and fortune and healthy children to the marriage.

            “Now that we have received your gifts and found them fitting, I would like to introduce the bride. Katara, daughter of the former Chief Hakoda, war hero and master waterbender, welcomes you to our humble home.”

            Hakoda opened his door to his daughter’s room as everyone—inside the house and outside it—held their breaths. With a gentle squeeze to her hand, he allowed her to hook her arm in his. Katara felt her insides tie themselves into firm knots as she descended the stairs to her future. The first face she saw was scared and marred yet beaming and the most beautiful thing that she’d ever seen. Zuko didn’t look even slightly out of place with the blue of her home on his pale skin. Azula and Ursa, however did. Katara smiled brightly, her ocean eyes only for her groom.

            Katara watched as Zuko moved forward as Gran-Gran nodded her permission. Since they hadn’t yet asked the ancestors, he could do nothing but gaze at her and hover his hands above hers. She wanted nothing more than to reach out, grab him and pull him to her but those urges had to be pushed down and saved for later. Once the modest amount of time for them to stare at each other had passed, Katara cast her eyes down and Zuko stepped behind his younger sister.

            “You have been granted permission from her worldly family but you must ask the Spirits,” Gran-Gran announced.

            The two families moved outside to go to alter that connected Katara’s passed family members to the ones that still lived. Her grandmother helped her kneel in the snow before the alter as Azula helped her brother do the same. For once she didn’t sneer as she looked at him; the younger girl was all business and duty. Gran-Gran handed both Zuko and Katara long incense sticks. Instead of using bending, Azula used a flint rock to light the sticks.

            Katara clasped the stick between her palms and bowed her head to the alter. “Spirits, please bless this union and give us permission to marry.”

            Zuko mimicked her position. “Spirits, please bless this union and give us permission to marry.”

            Simultaneously, the couple placed their still lit incense inside a bowl atop the alter. Once the sticks were in there, the two stared with their hands still clasped. The fire burned a brilliant jade before fading to blue, scarlet then white and finally going out. Katara smiled hugely and let her taunt body relax. A cheer went through the gathered crowd over a blessing received. The couple rose by themselves and turned to their respective families.

            Katara turned and bowed. “Thank you Dad for knowing my strength and never letting anyone take it for granted. Thank you Gran-Gran, for devoting yourself to my and Sokka’s wellbeing and for letting us follow our own paths. Thank you Sokka, for caring for me when I thought that I was doing the raising and for giving me a bit of light when everything seemed so dark. Thank you Suki, for giving me a sister that I never had and for letting me see the warrior in myself when I forgot she was there after the war. Thank you, Ty Lee for teaching me that love knows no boundaries and for ultimately giving me the courage to follow my own heart. Thank you Mai, for showing me yet again that I find friends in places where no one would expect me to and for accepting me into your own heart. Thank you all for making me the woman that stands here before you, ready to start the next, never-ending journey of her life.” She bowed once more.

            Zuko took a deep breath before bowing to his own family. “Thank you Uncle, for knowing me before I knew myself and letting me learn that I create my own destiny. Thank you Mother for giving me time to come into myself, even if I didn’t know it was a good thing at the time, and coming back to me in the end. Thank you Azula, for teaching me that love is strange and that you can’t decide who you give it to. Thank you Toph, for being a constant fixture in my life and freeing me of the guilt that I carried with me for so long. Thank you all for sticking with me as I found myself and found the woman meant for me.”

            Katara turned to Zuko with tears threatening to spill down her face. “Thank you, Zuko for loving me all along and never pressuring me to do anything that I didn’t feel comfortable with. Thank you Zuko for letting me step away from my motherly role during the war and be fierce. Thank you Zuko for seeing me as more than the master waterbender who gave herself for the better of the world. Thank you Zuko for loving me when I felt I wasn’t deserving. Thank you Zuko for going into this unknown with me.” By the end of her thanks her voice was thick with emotion and tears that she barely held back.

            “Thank you Katara for never letting me off easy. Thank you Katara for unknowingly helping me find myself in you and in the world. Thank you Katara for loving me when there were so many that hated me. Thank you Katara for being my protector when I needed it, advisor when it was called for, consultant when you were the only one I could turn and mother of my children when the time finally comes. Thank you Katara for believing in me and fighting with me. Thank you Katara for sharing your secrets and being the ear for mine. Thank you Katara for coming back to me.” The last line was said through tears as he reached for her and struggled to compose himself. She could tell that the tears carried utter happiness, relief and the feeling that one gets when coming after a long, draining voyage.

            “You may touch each other now,” Gran-Gran said.

            Katara immediately joined hands with Zuko. He leaned against her and she felt his body shake; it said more than any thanks ever could. When they both calmed and the audience cheered over the second most important wedding the current tribe had seen, Katara wiped the tears from both of his eyes and he did the same. Once they detached, Gran-Gran took her arm and steered her back towards the house. The wedding wasn’t nearly over.

            As Katara changed into her second furs, a pale blue dress with trimming that was even paler yet still carried a blue tint, Zuko changed as well. In the Fire Nation, that would have been it he and Katara would have had a reception and danced before going to their marriage bed. Of course, in the water tribe things tended to take a little longer. So he let Iroh and his mother dress him in the suit made of bulky, pale blue fur and he let Azula change his hair from the wolf tail to his usual top knot. His clothes may have been Water Tribe but from this point on it would be known that he was the Fire Lord. The golden emblem was a stark contrast against the blues but it helped calm him a little.

            “Now it’ll be the tea ceremony,” Iroh told the procession as they made their long trek once more. “I’ll make a bet and said that this will be my favorite part of the whole day.”

            Toph sped up as much as she could in the thick snow to nudge Zuko. “Don’t let what those idiots are saying bother you. Even _I_ can see how happy you two and you know I can’t see. You and Katara, my best friends, being happy is all that matters.”

            Zuko had heard the talk of course. On the first walk over many of the tribespeople, mostly those dressed in the hues of the North, had whispered that Katara’s family would be wise to refuse entry to their house. The same people had clicked their tongues over his flashy fireworks and the bending the he, Azula and Uncle used to set them off. He’d been too wrapped up in Katara to notice if they said anything at the alter or not. Zuko glanced around and saw down turned lips at the Fire Lord crown in his hair. Toph reached out in an uncharacteristic display of affection to rub his arm before falling back to her spot behind Ursa. Let them talk, at the end of the day he would be married to love of his life and they would have nothing but sour moods.

            The door to Hakoda’s home was open when Zuko arrived with his procession. Katara sat at an ornate table that he’d never seen before in all of his visits. The pale blue dress did wonders for her dark skin. Her hair had been changed so that it didn’t include so many braids. Instead curls framed her face, bound by think bands and a ponytail showed proudly in the center of her head. The only lose hair was a little above the nape of her neck.

            One of the Southern Water Tribe elders, a withered man that looked older than Iroh even, sat at the head of the main table. There were six tables in total. Zuko sat with Katara, Ursa with Hakoda, Azula with Gran-Gran, Sokka alone, Suki alone and Toph with Mai and Ty Lee. As the Fire Lord sat, he only had eyes for his bride.

            “You will drink four different teas today. One for luck, one for happiness, one for healthy children and a final one for a long and prosperous marriage,” the elder at Zuko’s table explained. All of the tables drank the same tea but the others drank not for themselves but for Katara and Zuko. “The first is a bluebell tea, for luck.”

            The elder filled one cup with the steaming liquid and passed it to Katara first. She took it the smell, no doubt something learned from Uncle—who happened to look positively giddy over his own shared up—then drank deeply. After swallowing and bowing her head to elder to thank him for helping bring luck to their future marriage, she handed Zuko the cup. He tried to copy the way his bride had but decided not to do it anymore since he probably looked silly. The liquid was bitter but went down smoothly enough. He thanked the elder who frowned and tipped back the empty cup. Both Katara and Azula chuckled as his face went red with embarrassment.

            “The second tea is marjoram, for happiness.”

            Katara wafted the scent to her nose once more before drinking. Zuko made sure to save some the tea for the elder as he brought the cup to his lips. The beverage was sweeter than any tea he’d ever drank without adding sugar to and it made sense that it was meant to bring happiness. He made a mental note to add it to the list of herbs Uncle purchased if the old man didn’t add it himself. The elder drank what was left and stacked the second cup onto the first.

            “The third tea is pomegranate, for healthy children.”

            Finally something Zuko knew. When he took the cup from Katara he drank heartily before handing it to the elder. When he took the time to glance at Uncle he see that the man was clearly having the best time of his life. At least Hakoda looked amused.

            “The fourth and final tea is patchouli, for a long and prosperous marriage.”

            Zuko tried not to twist his face as he sipped the tea. From the way Katara opened and closed her mouth he could see that it wasn’t her favorite either. Finally, the elder took the stacked cups and threw them against the table so that they all shattered. Even though he managed not to jump, Ursa and Ty Lee nearly fell over. After a long while, all of the elders raised their hands high in the sky.

            “The couple will be granted all these elements during their marriage,” they said in unison.

            The cheer inside the house caused for one outside. Zuko stood when he saw Katara moving to do so.

            “You may embrace each other now,” Gran-Gran said.

            Zuko stepped around the table in a hurry to pull Katara into his arms. The elders cleared their throats almost as soon as they were holding each other. Reluctantly, Zuko pulled away.

            “There’s one last ceremony before the one that joins you as husband and wife,” Gran-Gran told, “You must light your candles.”

            Zuko wondered why so many of the Southern Water Tribe customs called for fire in order to join a couple. In a way it helped him to see why Katara had embraced his element instead of shied away from it like he thought she would. Along with water, she came from fire. The thought warmed his body even more than the furs that Pakku allowed him to wear did.  

            “The lighting of these candles will show the Spirits that you will forever devote yourselves to each other. If one of you shall die, your candle will not go out, you are bound for eternity.”

            Zuko glanced at Katara who held her unlit candle and hung on her grandmother’s every word. Divorce wasn’t something that existed with her people and neither was remarriage. Of course she’d had so much trouble when the fire sages had asked what she’d want in the instance of a split. He smiled at her and she immediately returned it. Her agreement to marry him meant so much more now that he knew. Unlike a Fire Nation woman who held the idea that if things got rough she could always pack up and leave, Katara was with him for the long haul.

            Katara used a flint rock to light her candle. “I promise to guide you when you are lost. I promise to always bring you out of darkness and never thrust you into it. I promise to always be your candle when the nights get cold.” She smiled, knowing that would never happen in the Fire Nation.

            Zuko clumsily lit his candle using the flint instead of bending; he heard a few snickers. “I promise to guide you when you are lost. I promise to always bring you out of darkness and never thrust you into it. I promise to always be your candle when the nights get cold.”

            Gran-Gran took the two candles and placed them with dozens of other candles that were sheltered from the harsh weather. Zuko’s stomach leapt. He was step closer to being Katara’s husband as far as her tribe was concerned. They weren’t granted permission to touch each other again so he gazed at her lovingly as Azula led him away. This time however, Hakoda joined his party and Ursa went with Katara.

            Katara went with her procession to change into her final furs of the day. Hours had passed since she’d woken and her stomach growled to let her know. Suki, who remembered the hunger of her own wedding day all too well, snuck Katara a few pieces of jerky before she climbed the stairs to her room.

            Gran-Gran helped Katara into the stark white dress made of snow wolf fur that hugged every curve of her body the way furs usually didn’t. Suki sat behind her step-sister and carefully combed out the curls and manipulated them so hung beautifully. When all the jerky was gone and Katara was dressed with her hair done, Ursa came in bearing four of the eight boxes. Zuko’s mother already had tears in her eyes that made it hard for Katara to hold back her own.

            “You get more beautiful by the hour,” Ursa whispered, “I’m here with your jewelry. It was a gift from our family to you, but you know that everything we have is yours.”

            Gran-Gran smiled. “You’ll be the only one to put it on her and then, as your first act as her mother, you’ll help us with her ceremonial paint. Take your time, the bride is allowed to be late to wedding.”

            Ursa sank to the ground, an uncommon thing for someone of her status, and started with Katara’s ankles. The royal family had spared no expenses when it came to the wedding jewelry. Katara’s ankles were weighed down with gold and diamond anklets and her toes were adored with diamond and sapphire rings. A gold chain went around her waist, a stack around both her wrists. Ursa carefully pushed jeweled rings onto Katara’s fingers until all of them save for her engagement finger had at least five rings. The earrings that she gave Katara took a long while to get used to and the many thin necklaces glittered against the white fur dress. Finally, a golden headpiece with tiny flames reminded everyone just who Katara was marrying.

            “Sit in that chair,” Gran-Gran instructed, “and give us your hands and feet.”

            The paint that was used was a brilliant blue and startling white. Gran-Gran, who was the most experienced, drew the symbols of the water tribe and traced ancient words of well wishes along Katara’s arms. Suki, who knew some things from her wedding, drew the patterns on Katara’s palms and bottoms of her feet with a gentle hand. Ursa followed instructions and used her thin fingers to dot around Katara’s brows, nose and chin. When Katara looked in the mirror her breath was nowhere to be found. After a long day of ceremony’s the defining moment was there.

            The three woman started off with holding the train of her dress as she slipped her feet into the fur moccasins that would only be worn to walk to the grand building where the elders and Sokka held their meetings. Ty Lee and Mai grabbed ahold once she made it downstairs and Sokka, the remaining man, led the way. Tribespeople who weren’t yet at the building, ran alongside and offered hands to help keep the train out of the snow. Hakoda waited by the door for his daughter.

            “Ready?” he asked, offering his arm, his face already painted.

            “I’ve been ready since we got here.”

            Katara returned her father’s shining smile and the doors opened. She stepped out of her moccasins once the sound of the elders belting out the ceremonial, guttural wedding song touched her ears. The first person she saw in the sea of blue and white was Zuko seated waiting for her. His scar was the most color there was in the blinding room and she focused on that wonderful burgundy.

            The walk was slow but finally she reached Zuko’s right. Gran-Gran draped a white veil over her head that went down to her lap as Azula did the same with a blue veil for Zuko. When the song finished Katara saw the oldest elder move to stand in front of them through her veil. He bent shakily to stoke the large fire that would be used for the ending of the ceremony then stood.

            “The groom, Fire Lord Zuko, will now make his three promises to his future wife and her family,” the elder rasped.

            Zuko strong voice boomed around the room and made Katara want to sigh with sheer bliss. “I will be just. I will earn enough to support my family. I will love my wife unconditionally.” He repeated the promises three times before the veils were lifted.

            “The bride, Master Katara, will now mark her husband as hers.”

            Katara took the bowl of paint that the elder handed her. She dipped her fingers into the paint, made sure that no access dripped on her dress and began to paint the symbols of love and unity of her people onto Zuko’s neck. Once she finished, the elder took the bowl of paint and threw it into the fire.

            “The couple will now walk around the sacred fire to seal their marriage to each other.”

            Katara and Zuko rose and touched their painted palms together over the top of the fire. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, they circled the fire three times in either direction. If she didn’t remember herself to breathe every once in a while, Katara would have gotten lost in the amber of Zuko’s eyes and forgotten. After their rotation was over, the elder raised his hands and every guest cheered and clapped loudly. Katara and Zuko sat again, this time with her on his left.

            The members of the two family came forward to express their happiness to the glowing couple first then left the building all together. Katara smiled because she knew exactly what they were doing, Zuko on the other hand looked confused. Sometime while the other guests came up to smile and shake the newlyweds hands for good luck in their own lives, Gran-Gran and Suki came to replace all of Katara’s gold headpiece with a flowery ornament.

            The well wishes seemed to take another two hours and Zuko thanked Agni that he’d had a big meal before the final ceremony. He hoped that Katara had had the same since they had once last thing to do. Finally, when the elders announced that every guest had spoken to the couple, Azula and Katara’s grandmother led them from the building. Even when Katara paused to put shoes on, he didn’t let go of her waist. If it was up to him, he’d never let go of her again.

            “I’m proud of you brother. For once,” Azula tacked on. She turned to Katara. “Have fun dealing with him for the rest of your life.”

            Gran-Gran kissed her granddaughter then made Zuko bend so she could kiss him too. “Treat each other kindly and with nothing but love. We’ll see you in the morning.”

            Zuko’s face flushed but of course everyone knew what came after a wedding. Katara gave him an impish grin as the two stepped into the house that they’d built the day before. Flowers that matched the ornament in his wife’s—it felt so good to think of her as that—were spread along their bed.

            Zuko started with removing the copious amount of jewelry. “You’re my wife and fiancée. How does that feel?”

            “Like the best thing in the world.” Katara pulled his face to hers once all of her jewelry was gone.

            He couldn’t stop himself, Zuko smiled happily and hugged her close. With the body of the woman he loved pressed firmly against him, he fisted a hand in her hair and kissed her letting all his emotion leak into that one interaction. It left both of them breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a lot of different cultures to make this happen. If you want to know which ones, just send a me a little comment and I'd more than happy to let you know but maybe you know some of them. Also, I ended with the big moment where they do the do because this isn't rated for it. If any of you REALLY wanna read it, send me something and I'll write as an add on instead of a chapter so that people who don't want M content don't have to see it. I had tons of fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed it. Also always, all comments and kudos are so appreciated and make me want to hug you all.  
> Also, I kinda wanna start another fic (I'll still do this one) but it'll be an actiony one. It'll be Zutara but I may add some other people in. So if you wanna see that or if you have any ideas for it, let me know. I think that's it. Our two love birds will be back int the Fire Nation for the next chapter.


	10. Ambushes

While Zuko had had to go back to his Fire Lord as soon as the boat docked, Katara had a little more freedom. When Ursa and Iroh had invited her to the Fire Nation Spring Festival with them, it had sounded like a good idea. After going from stall to stall and being unabashedly stared at, she wasn’t so sure. She could have dealt with the stares easily, after she helped end the war people found that it was their civic duty to stare at her. The want to turn around and go home came from her choice of company.

            “Have you and Zuko given any thought as to what kind of benders your children will be?” Iroh asked as he held out the bag of fire flakes to Katara.

            “We don’t really talk about children,” she said.

            “Surely you know that you’ll have to have them.” Ursa steered them towards a stall that sold masks. “The throne will need heirs and there’s only one way to get them.”

            Iroh laughed heartily. “Better get a jump on making them now. You won’t always have this much free time.”

            “There’s no rush.” Katara kept her voice much calmer than she felt—the diplomat classes were working.

            “But aren’t you excited to start your family? Children are really such a joy and I heard waterbenders have the easiest pregnancies,” Ursa urged.

            Anytime Katara opened her mouth, Iroh and Ursa said something else to get her to reconsider waiting to have children. It did nothing to change her mind; if anything it pushed her tentative calendar back further. She and Zuko had agreed to wait at least a few months after their second wedding to even discuss children. When they finally started to grow their family, it was going to be because they were both ready and not because a team of advisors—and now in-laws—were breathing down their necks.

            Zuko almost wished that he were in another budget meeting instead of going over the wedding menu with Azula. Why Katara had trusted his sister with balancing dishes from both nations was beyond him, but he had ended up as the final voice in order to get it approved. No matter how much time he spent in the Southern Water Tribe he couldn’t remember is sea prune stew could be considered a delicacy or what kind of jerky made the best finger food. After a while the words began to blend together.

            “The Fire Nation looks good, you’ll have to check with Katara for the rest.”

            She huffed in annoyance. “The cooks need it to be approved today so that they can order the ingredients tomorrow. Ursa and Uncle took Katara to the festival and Agni knows when they’ll be back.”

            “Then I approve it. Write to Sokka when you’re done and ask if he can get the North to spare one of their royal to help with the preparation of the Water Tribe food.”

            “Even though being your lackey is my _favorite_ job, I didn’t only come here to run a list of food by you,” Azula sneered.

            Zuko sat straighter at his desk. Of course there had to be a reason why she came by personally. “What do you want?”

            “Now that you and Kat have had your first wedding, you must have started talking about children and all the other things that I’m assuming comes with marriage such as who will redecorate the east garden.” She paused to look around his study. “For the sake of our eyes I hope you left the latter task to your wife.”

            “We haven’t talked about children and neither of us feel that the gardens are in need of redecorating.”

            “No matter. Sooner or later you’ll have to not only talk about children, Katara will have to pop out at least two. While I’m not looking forward to having the palace being overrun by little tykes that’ll most likely be as self-righteous as their parents, I am interested in their names.”

            “I already told you that we haven’t talked about it. Katara will probably want to name one after her mother and I would like to honor Uncle with naming one of our children after him.” Zuko felt pride swell in his chest over having finally voiced his wishes aloud.

            Azula waved a hand dismissively. “So cute, so wonderful, so honorable. Since naming your kids after family members seems to be the trend for you two, I want you to name a child after me.”

            Zuko laughed until he saw that she was serious. “That’s not going to happen.”

            “Why not? Azula has a beautiful ring to it. Anyone would be lucky to have such a great name and be named after such a great woman.”

            “My answer is still no.”

            Zuko expected fire, lightning or something when he refused her request. The one thing that he hadn’t foresaw was the tiny smile that his younger sister gave him before picking up the menu and leaving the room. When he went to his bedroom he almost expected to see the whole room torched and disheveled. There wasn’t one item out of place and it set him on edge more than he cared to admit.

            Sometime closer to day than night, Katara slipped in. Zuko immediately sat up and made room for her. As an afterthought he lit the torches along the wall with a flick of his wrist so that she could find her bedclothes.

            “What time does Azula usually go to sleep?” she asked after sliding her body next to his.

            “I have no idea. Why?”

            “When I came back she was standing at the end of the hall. She told me that later in the week she wants to have an ostrich horse race and then spar. I thought she was sleep talking and walking so I agreed.”

            Zuko groaned and wished that he’d gotten to Katara before his sister. Of course she hadn’t picked a fight with him. Azula always had a backup plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost I'm so sorry that this took so long. I wrote an entire chapter that I hated so I had to delete that and then skip ahead in my plans I'm still not sure how I feel about this. This is short and a filler and I feel like it's a horrible way to follow up the first wedding but don't worry because it'll get better. So yeah. Also, yay for me I graduated from high school and now I only have to stress about college. Since you guys don't have stress, I'll have more time over the summer to work on this and a sequel that I've been mulling over. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, you all give me motivation to keep going.  
> One last thing, I WILL be doing Zutara week this summer so for that whole week I won't be posting this story and I'll have to work on my one shots a little before then. I hope you all get to read my contributions so if you see me posting but not working on this, it's not cause it's forgotten.   
> Thanks once again.


	11. Challenges

Azula stretched her arms above her head before nearly snapping her nimble body in half to touch her toes. “Alright Kat, this will be a clean ostrich-horse race. Once around the western part of the palace. Whoever gets back first has one out of two challenges under their belt.”

            “What if you win this race but I win the spar? Then we’re tied,” Katara said as Iroh helped her onto her ostrich-horse.

She tied her dark hair in a bun as she stared at her sister-in-law who didn’t need help in mounting the animal. If the independence was meant to be intimidating then it somewhat worked but the waterbender refused to admit it. Zuko was in meetings for the greater part of the day but that didn’t mean that the race was without an audience. Every guard, servant and official that wasn’t supposed to be in the Fire Lord’s line of sight was outside in the western courtyard waiting for the young women to take off. When Katara looked around at the shining eyes, the competitive side that had been dormant since she’d last spared with her husband—fiancé while in the Fire Nation—flared up. She twisted her body to face Azula and extended a hand.

“Best of luck, Zul. Uncle, when you’re ready.”

Iroh called two fire whips to his hands and the spectators moved back. “There are people posted throughout the course to make sure everything you do is clean and equal.”

“Azula Jr. will _love_ hearing the story of how her mother came up with her name.” Azula grinned hugely and tucked her body lower on the ostrich-horse.

Finally, Iroh cracked his whips and the animals took off beneath their riders. Katara had only started riding ostrich-horses when she moved to the Fire Nation permanently so Azula had her beat in that aspect. Katara was a waterbender. They were made with the sole purpose to flow and mold with things while firebenders were an aggressive force that tried to make things bend to their will. The animal yielded easily to Katara’s will and took the turns after only the slightest pressure was applied to its side. Azula on the other hand wasn’t gentle and her ostrich-horse took the turns through the palace a little more hesitantly.

Katara and Azula rounded the bend and saw the door of the trading meeting room open. When Katara saw Zuko, all done up in his regal robes, emerge, she slowed her horse to keep from hitting him. His sister took that chance to get ahead and forced a representative of the Earth Kingdom to leap backwards in order to keep his life. With one final apologetic glance at her husband, Katara urged her ostrich-horse again and tore off after her challenger.

Azula crossed the finish line made of bed sheets a millisecond before Katara but it was a win nonetheless. Katara jumped down from her ostrich-horse, breathing heavily and ready to head to the sparring room.

“Oh, I almost can’t wait until you and Zuzu start having children. Little Azula will no doubt take after her aunt and be the best of the liter,” Azula gloated and Ursa frowned.

“We aren’t done yet. You still have to beat me in a spar, something you haven’t been able to do in ages.”

Azula opened her mouth to respond with a snappy comment when Zuko’s personal assistant, a small man with one blue eye and one amber one, dashed into the western courtyard as quickly as his thick robes would allow. He bowed to Katara, Azula, Ursa and Iroh separately before catching his breath and addressing the group as a whole.

“His royal highness, Fire Lord Zuko, says that the four of you should come to his private dining rooms immediately. Your lunch has already been delivered there.” The women in charge of making sure that Katara looked regal enough to face each day detached themselves from the crowd only to be stopped by a hand held out in their direction by the assistant. “Immediately. There’s no time for a change of clothes.”

The women glared but resigned themselves to fussing over Katara’s hair. As always, Azula looked perfect despite winning the race and nearly killing someone. In the back of her mind Katara hoped that she would be let in on the secret of how to remain poised and unruffled at all times once she became Fire Lady.

Zuko waited with food on the low table in front of him. Everything steamed but more from his anger rather the freshness of dishes. Just as he was making progress in closing a deal on trading Fire Nation spices for Earth Kingdom metals, his sister and wife had come along on ostrich-horses _inside_ the palace and shown the official that if he couldn’t even control his home how could ever control his merchants to make sure they traded fairly. The thought caused the midday soup in front of him to boil.

The culprits entered the room arm in arm with his uncle and mother trailing behind them with stoic expressions. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to dig into the young women the way he wanted with his mother there. She was more protective of Katara than she was her own daughter.

“Please,” he seethed, “Sit.”

The foursome followed orders and he tried to make eye contact with Katara. She dutifully looked anywhere but him. With that course of action failed, he turned instead to glare at Azula. His sister glared back. He hadn’t really expected anything less.

“Pray tell, why in Agni’s name you felt the need to tear through the halls of the palace during my meeting on a pair of ostrich-horses like barbarians. All the work I put into a very important deal may as well have been ruined with that little stunt.”

“Dear brother, I’m sure you heard of my and Katara’s challenge. The whole palace is abuzz with excitement over who will be the winner.”

“What you did was dangerous and reckless and I expected more from you Katara.”

Zuko nearly pinched the bridge of his nose when he saw Ursa straighten from her position at the table; he had evoked the wrath of an armadillo bear with merely fourteen words. “Now Zuko, it isn’t only her fault. As Azula said, there were many who knew about it and did nothing to stop it. Why most, if not all, cheered on Katara and your sister.”

“As the future Fire Lady, this kind of behavior is unacceptable,” he pressed and saw Katara slump slightly. Of all people, Azula was the one to poke her side and offer a reassuring glance.

“As the current Fire Lady, I take full responsibility for their actions. If you direct me to the noble that was so up in arms, I’ll smooth things over,” Ursa offered.

Zuko saw Katara set her shoulders and the fire that he loved so much surged in her eyes. “No. I’m an adult and Zuko is right, I am the future Fire Lady. I’ll talk to him and explain and patch things up so that all your work wasn’t for nothing.”

Not quite ready to fully forgive the woman but losing the battle to hold onto his anger when he looked at her pleading eyes, he huffed. “He’s shaken up now and his boat to the Earth Kingdom leaves in the morning. If you can manage to talk to him before then by all means be my guest.”

“We have the banquet in the Earth Kingdom next week. I can talk to him there where he has no choice but to be civil.”

“If our little talking to is over, Kat and I have a spar to get to.” Azula cracked her back. “We’ll be by the turtle duck pond if you want to stop by.”

“Did you learn nothing? Absolutely not. No more antics around the palace.”

Azula smiled like a cat that had just spotted a juicy mouse. “Are you absolutely sure, brother?”

“I won’t have anything else messed up with you two nearly killing someone. Even each other.”

“If you insist, Zuko dear. Do tell me when you’re expecting, Azula II should really be pampered early on even in the womb.”

With that Azula smiled once more and left the room. Zuko turned to Katara who had taken a great interest in the wood of the table.

“You _lost_?”

“It was either lose or run you over.” Katara shrugged. “I would have gotten her back if you hadn’t put an end to the spar.”

“It was just a silly race. It doesn’t mean we’ll actually name one of our children after her. Right?”

Iroh set down his bowl to look at his nephew. “Now Zuko. A promise is a promise and a deal is a deal. Katara lost fairly and it would be dishonorable of you to make her go back on her word.”

“We’ll only have two kids and that way there won’t be any child to name after her,” he said.

Katara stood and looked at him with an expression he couldn’t read through his distress over having another Azula—and one that he fathered. “Children aren’t in the near future. We aren’t even officially married in the Fire Nation yet. Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.” She bent and kissed his forehead before following her friend out.

“In my opinion, I say you talk about heirs sooner rather than later. Katara’s aversion to talking about them worries me,” Ursa suggested.

Zuko looked to his mother. “Can’t you talk to her? It’s not exactly my favorite topic either.”

She shook her head and rose simultaneously with Iroh. “What a pair.”

When it came time for the Earth Kingdom banquet, Katara was dressed to kill in a scarlet gown that had a waterfall of ice blue beads that were more condensed on her torso and sparse towards the train. She felt a sense of pride swell in her chest when she emerged from her dressing room in the Earth palace and struck Zuko speechless. He settled for a kiss that lingered a little too long to be acceptable for the eyes of the guards.

“If this wasn’t such an important event you might not have made it outside these quarters,” Zuko whispered as they walked towards the grand ballroom with an escort of guards.

Katara looked up at him and caught her lower lip between her teeth deliberately. “I don’t know, I do feel a headache coming on.”

“Oh no you don’t, you have someone you need to talk to. Remember?”

“Fine, but you’re not off the hook about your comment.”

“Am I ever?” He straightened as the doors opened a short, squat man puffed out his chest to announce them.

“Son of former Fire Lord Ozai and current Fire Lady Ursa, Fire Lord Zuko. Daughter of former Chief Hakoda and late Kya of the Southern Water Tribe, future Fire Lady Katara.”

Katara and Zuko inclined their heads to gathered nobles and bowed to the Earth King. Once he responded, they were free to move around the spacious room. After they had made one rotation, Katara felt her husband’s hand on her lower back and saw him incline his head slightly towards a group of lesser Earth Kingdom nobles. She got the hint and excused herself politely. With her head held high and her shoulders back, she infiltrated the group and gave them the small closed lipped smile of the Fire Nation royal family that she had perfected thanks to Azula.

“Councilman Sajin, is it? May I have a word?”

“Only if the ostrich horses are in stables,” he sniffed.

Katara gave him the smile that she had seen Ursa give so many annoying advisors back home. “I can assure you that were one to come stampeding in right now, it would be a shock to us both.”

“One can’t very well turn down a conversation with the future Fire Lady can he? Lead the way.”

She caught Zuko’s wary eyes as she moved with the man towards a table heaped with drinks and food. “I understand that yesterday may have given you a fright but I hope that was all. It need not influence your decision to trade with us, if anything it should strengthen your resolve to do so.”

“I don’t see why it would that. What I witnessed was rather undignified.”

“Would you have us wait eons to settle our disputes? In the Fire Nation, as I’ve come to learn since like you at a time I didn’t know much about the culture, problems are handled with swifts and immediate action. Princess Azula and I were merely settling a dispute.”

“By racing ostrich horses?” he deadpanned.

Katara gave him the slightly patronizing smile once more. “In the Fire Nation, we are very creative.”

“While that be I was rather put out. I’ll have to give more consideration to trading.”

She sighed theatrically. “I wouldn’t take _too_ long Councilman. As you know, the Fire Lord and I once travelled the world and saw quite a bit of the Earth Kingdom. You are not the only trader we know, nor the only one willing to supply our nation with the metal that we call for.” She was bluffing and she hoped he didn’t know it. Before the race she hadn’t known what in the world the trade meeting was even about.

The man took the bait and swallowed hard. “Is that so, Fire Lady Katara?”

She didn’t correct him, only nodded. “And we are being very generous with the terms of our trade as is. You see, the Fire Nation grows many, many spices and we’re offering to trade the entire variety of them with you for only one metal. Now, doesn’t sound very giving?”

“It does indeed…”

“And we could ask for so much more! Why, I heard for our other friends in the Earth Kingdom that your company is looking to develop a different mode of transportation that would make life and travel easier for all. Councilman, you would only give us the raw material but withhold the product. You are certainly getting more from this trade than us.” She tilted her head as if in thought but really watched the man squirm. “Now that I think of it, maybe it would be better if we took our trade elsewhere within the Earth Kingdom. So sorry for any inconvenience to your health that may have occurred while at our palace.”

“Fire Lady Katara!” he called out, “My company is looking to expand. Would your husband be interested in perhaps another meeting to discuss the possibility of moving a factory to the Fire Nation? I think it would benefit us all.”

She held back a predatory smile that she had learned from Azula. “I’ll speak with him. Does this mean you’ll still trade?”

“I’ll have the papers drafted this evening.”

“I so enjoyed our talk,” Katara purred before returning to Zuko.

“You look pleased with yourself,” he noted.

“The trade is no longer in danger and I may have figured out a way to get one of the war machine factories to reopen with a different purpose. It’s small but it’ll create more jobs.”

He twined both of their hands since there was no way he could kiss her in front of this many noble people and royalty. “The best decision I ever made was asking you to be my wife.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! You all have been so patient so I edited this tonight so I could get it out sooner rather than later. As always, tell me what you think because I love hearing from you. We have quite a little bit to go still so don't worry there will be plenty of updates. I AM thinking of what I'll do with my next fic however so if you have suggestions or prompts tell me. Thank you so much for reading and sticking with this.


	12. Celebrations

“Throwing me a birthday party that I certainly didn’t want won’t get me to change my mind on having to name one of your children after me,” Azula hissed as Zuko clapped along with everyone around the table.

            He gave his younger sister a smile that was only a little forced. “There’s no motive behind this. Just enjoy it.”

            “Of course there’s a motive,” she scoffed, “Why else would I suddenly get a birthday party after twenty-one years of being alive?”

            “It was Katara’s idea. I was content to send a letter with a servant and pat you on the back for having made it this far.”

            Zuko saw the sharp features of his sister’s face soften as she took that in. From across the room, the waterbender in question came through the door followed by the servants and cooks, carrying a flaming cake. His mother and uncle jumped up to help her set it down so that her hair and clothes didn’t catch fire.

            “Happy birthday, Azula,” Katara said and came to hug the girl briefly. “Zuko told me that you don’t celebrate birthdays here in the Fire Nation so what you do is blow out the candles, close your eyes and make a wish for the new year.”

            Azula leaned over the cake, closed her eyes and blew gently. The flames did nothing but flicker. After a moment, she opened her eyes, waved a hand and the candles went out immediately. Zuko saw Katara frown but it was gone almost instantly. She moved forward with a knife and began to efficiently cut and hand out squares of cake. In the back of his mind he wondered if she’d ever spent time in Uncle’s shop.

            “Do I have to tell you all what I wished for?” Azula asked once everyone was on their second slice.

            “No, if you do it won’t come true. It’s amazing that you don’t celebrate birthdays here. Both the Water Tribes and the entire Earth Kingdom do.”

            After the dinner that was full of sweets and gifts for Azula, Katara and Iroh left. Zuko was about to rise and follow after them when the birthday girl but a hand on his wrist.

            “Brother, can I speak with you?”

            He looked after this future wife and his uncle then back at Azula. “Of course. Is everything okay?”

            She glared and motioned for him to follow her out of the room. Once they were out of earshot from everyone inside, she turned on her heel and faced him. “I want to say thank you but if you tell anyone that I said so I will deny it and turn Your Royal Highness into a pile of ash. This was… nice.”

            “You’re welcome,” he replied after recovering from his astonishment. “I won’t tell anyone you said this.”

            “Good and don’t expect me to do anything like this for you on your birthday.”

            “I wasn’t.”

            “It’ll have to be grander to prove that I’m still better than you in every way,” she finished and walked away.

            Zuko stood in the hall for a moment, trying to figure out how exactly he’d gotten engaged in a birthday party competition with his younger sister. It came to Katara, like most of the seemingly unexplainable things in his life tended to do. With a head nod to his guards, he went in search of her and his uncle.

            It wasn’t hard to find them as his uncle had set up a small band beside the pond that Katara often used to practice her waterbending. The short man led her around in a slowed version of the Fire Nation dance that had been performed at weddings since the beginning of time if the Fire Sage scrolls were to be believed. He was content to watch from the sidelines but his uncle had different plans. Once he was spotted, the two broke apart and Katara turned to him with a dazzling smile.

            “You might as well be the one to teach me, it’s not like I’ll be marrying Uncle,” she teased.

            Zuko went down and took the hand that she held out. “I’m not much of a dancer.”

            “Well, I’m an excellent dancer so maybe it’ll level out.”

            He didn’t notice when everyone left save for the guards as he began to turn in a small circle with the love of his life in his arms. “What aren’t you excellent at?”

            “I guess I could ask you the same question,” she whispered before standing on her toes to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait, I leave for university in about three weeks and I've been trying to get everything together for that. I'll try and go back to updating once a week again; I'm kind of digging Thursday as update days. Anyway, even though this chapter was short, I hope you enjoyed it. Next week we'll get some major Katara x Azula bonding time and probably see some of the Earth Kingdom girls then in a few we have the Fire Nation wedding. Exciting stuff! Thank you so much for reading and leave me feedback because I so enjoy seeing it.


	13. Trips

Katara stretched on her toes to touch her lips to Zuko’s despite the frown from every single one of his advisors. She didn’t care what they thought, she was leaving and she’d kiss her soulmate if she wanted. He didn’t seem to mind since his hands had been on her hips since they’d made it to the dock. She kissed him again, earning a smile.

            “Couldn’t you come back after your trip instead of picking up all our Earth Kingdom guests?” he asked and pulled her closer, “There could be a storm and it could delay the ship then how would we have the wedding without the bride.”

            “Honestly, I’m a little insulted. You’re about to marry a master waterbender—on time,” Katara teased.

            “You can’t blame me for being a little worried. It’s my job.”

            “Try not to worry too much or you’ll be as grey as Uncle by the time Azula and I get back.”

            Uncle ran a hand through his hair. “Hey, I think I found a black strand today. I’m not as old as you all make me seem.”

            Katara smiled and kissed his cheek. “Of course you’re not. We have to go now. Ready Zul?”

            Azula looked at the water and put her hands on her hips. “I’m always ready, Tara.”

            Katara gave Zuko once last kiss before following the princess onto the boat. She stood by the rail until Zuko, Ursa and Iroh were nothing but specks and the water grew between them. When Katara turned she saw Azula looking at the sky rather than the sea.

            “What if my presence unsettles them?” Azula asked once Katara had walked over to her, “It’s been years and people still don’t trust me and the ones who do are just waiting for me to overthrow Zuko and finish what my father started. This is my nation, my home, and my own people hate me.”

            “The people don’t hate you,” Katara assured and saw the side of Azula’s mouth turn down. “They don’t. They just don’t know you. As you said, it’s been years and you’ve never strayed far from the palace in that time. That’s why I brought you with me, so you could see something outside of the Fire Nation mainland.”

            “The islanders should hate me the most.”

            “So show them that you’ve changed and that you no longer wish them any harm. Do you think I’m popular in the Fire Nation? I’m a waterbender who’s marrying their Fire Lord and will soon become their Fire Lady and possibly pass my bending down to their royal heirs. People don’t have to start off liking you but if you never do anything to change their minds they’ll have nothing to base their thoughts on other than what they’ve heard. So, I’m active. And you will be too.”

            Azula frowned in a way that had to run in the family. “I don’t think it’ll work but I’ll try it. I’m going to get some rest before we get there.”

            Katara watched her friend go below deck. When they reached the first small island, the citizens stood at the dock in their finest clothes. Katara waved with a huge smile plastered to her face before nudging Azula to do the same. The princess’ smile looked more like a grimace and her wave was a few awkward jerks but it was something. They had two more islands to visit before going to the Earth Kingdom—she could work on it.

            “It is an honor to have the future Fire Lady and the current princess grace our humble island.” A man who must have been the mayor of the island since he was dressed far nicer than the others, bowed so low that his head almost touched the ground. “We have prepared rooms in the inns for you and there will be a feast in your honor tonight. Would you like to be taken to your rooms now?”

            “No thank you, we’re rested enough. Would you mind showing us to the hospital?” Katara asked.

            The mayor narrowed his eyes for a split second before smiling. It was enough that Katara and Azula saw it. The mayor led them to the hospital with a small guard of his own while the servants that had been brought with the women were taken to the inn to set up.

            The walk wasn’t long but Katara noticed how fidgety the man grew with each step. When they reached the building which looked more like a hut that had been recently remodeled, Katara nodded to the woman next to her—her assistant—to being taking notes. She turned to the man who only glanced at her in between running his fingers over the silk of his clothes.

            “This is your hospital?”

            “Yes. As you can see, we used the funding that was awarded to our island to add another wing. That is our maternity wing,” he smiled proudly.

            “Now, is this the hospital for this town or the entire island?” Katara asked, her assistant poised to write.

            “We are a small island,” he stalled.

            Azula stepped forward and the man visibly flinched. “That wasn’t the question.”

            “This is the hospital for the entire island,” he squeaked.

            “Interesting,” Katara mused before turning to the woman, she didn’t bother to lower her voice as she spoke, “Make a note of the name of this island, the proportions of this hospital and we’ll check it against the records of how much funding it received and how the dimensions that it was prior to said funding.”

            The mayor gulped as Katara sent him a smile that had a little too much sugar to be comforting but not enough venom to make him quake. She and Azula led the group inside without waiting for the man to prattle on about changes that had been made on a very small scale.

            The main room was nothing more than a few low cots with sick bodies lying on them and more bodies on the floor. Doctors and nurses with ragged clothes and even more ragged expressions worked with flurrying hands to treat their patients. When Katara saw them about to rise, she waved a hand for them to stop and shed her cloak. Thankfully, the water they were using was clean and responded easily to her bending. Before she set to work, she turned to Azula who hadn’t made a sound since she’d used her title and reputation to make the mayor shake.

            “I’m going to talk to the doctors and find out what the conditions are here and what changes need to be made. Why don’t you talk to the patients?”

            Azula’s ivory skin paled further. “If you think that’s what will be best.”

            The two moved apart and Katara went to the nearest nurse tending to a boy who’d somehow managed to slice a deep cut on his leg. As she healed, she learned that they rarely had enough medicine for their patients and inclined her head for her assistant to record everything they said. After Katara was near falling over from doing her best on the whole, tiny hospital, she stood and looked around for Azula. The princess crouched near a small and skinny girl who clutched a torn doll to her chest. Rather than interrupt, Katara moved outside and waited.

            “I’m glad you brought me,” Azula said as they walked to the inn, “I only sit on the post-war meetings and I didn’t know how the people outside of the capital were suffering.”

            “The meetings that talk of that in terms other than a budget of rebuilding, are mine. Zuko deals with the more pressing matters.”

            Azula glanced over with wide golden eyes. “This is pressing. Maybe somewhere in the budget we could find a way to get toys for the kids. I think they would like them.”

            Katara smiled hugely. “I’ll pull some strings and rework things once we get back. I’m sure we can.”

            When Katara got back to the inn, the first thing she did was write a letter to Zuko on what she’d seen and discovered. He read it and the candles in his private study burned brighter when he learned that the mayor of the island had taken the money and used most of it on himself. He calmed down more when he saw that his sister’s icy heart had thawed a tiny bit more on her request for toys. It was something small that he’d make sure he had the money for. When he thought of money he sighed and tucked the letter into his drawer. Money was something his nation had little of but was demanded to hand out to all the others as reparations.

            “Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang is here,” a guard announced as the monk walked into the study.

            Zuko was surprised when he was pulled into a tight hug rather than bowed to. “Zuko, it’s been so long. How have you been?

            “Good. There haven’t been nearly as many attempts on my life as before.”

            “Are you enjoying married life?” Aang asked and Zuko couldn’t read the emotion in the grey eyes in front of him.

            “We aren’t married in the Fire Nation yet but I doubt it’ll change much. Everything is already so perfect.” He couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face.

            “That’s how it is when you love someone enough to get married.” Aang looked away for a second before letting out a sigh. “I want to apologize for not going to the South Pole when it was time for your wedding. I guess I was still jealous—not that you two don’t complement each other—but it would have been too much at that time and I didn’t want to ruin such a joyous moment. That was small of me.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” Zuko dismissed, “I hope you can find the time to come to our Fire Nation wedding. You still have some time to think about it but you’re welcome. You’re always welcome.”

            “Thank you. Will Katara be joining us for dinner tonight?”

            “She and Azula are on a tour of the Fire Nation islands to check up on the hospitals so it’ll be some time before she’s back in the palace. I have some time to work and tie up loose ends before the wedding.”

            Aang wrinkled his nose. “Sounds boring. I’m glad I’m the Avatar and not the Fire Lord. Anyway, there is a reason I came and it wasn’t only to catch up. As you know, I want to rebuild the Air Temples and I’ll need a little help.”

            Zuko pulled out three scrolls detailing how much money he could give to help and what he’d need in return. Running a nation was a business after all.

            “Alright, so I’ve been thinking. What if we did something with the colonies as well, that way there would be money coming in to the Fire Nation—and the other nations—as well? As great as my nation may seem, we don’t have a never ending money flow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter and in just about a week! I hope you enjoy this, next chapter they'll will be more characters that we all know and love and then another wedding! Thank you so much for reading and sticking with this. I love and adore you all.


	14. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long. Here's a new chapter! It's all coming to a close.

Katara rubbed small, soothing circles on Azula’s back as they waited for Toph to get through yelling at the servants who slyly tried to pack only formal dresses into her bag. Each time another silk garment found its way in, Ty Lee would poke the younger girl in the arm and a Appa sized boulder would rise into the air menacingly. Two hours and only three garments more, Mai declared that she couldn’t sit in the room a moment longer before reverting back to her former state of impenetrable disinterest. Katara thanked the woman with a glance while Azula tensed further and drew the temperature of the room into her body.  
“I’m sure if we leave now and hurry to the spa we can convince them to extend our appointment since we missed the start time an hour ago,” Katara said, looking at the sun after they stepped out of Toph’s home.  
“We have the future Fire Lady and the current Fire Nation princess in our group,” Toph reminded, “We could show up in a week and they’d let us in and probably waive all fees.”  
Mai climbed nimbly into the palanquin. “She’s right. Start using your status to your advantage or no one is going to respect it.”  
Katara frowned but said nothing as she climbed up behind her friend. The last thing she wanted was for talk to spread that she was throwing her title and weight around to get what she wanted. She could only think of the letters that would arrive from her father and Sokka when word got to the South Pole.  
Once they got to the spa, the attendant greeted their party with a forced smile. Katara and Ty Lee were the only ones who returned it.  
“Welcome to Lotus Spa. Follow me and you’ll changed into your robes, then Lady Katara and Lady Toph will go to the mud bath while Lady Ty Lee, Lady Mai and Princess Azula go to the mud facial. Correct?”  
“No,” Azula retorted immediately.  
The woman jumped and frantically flipped through her records. Katara placed a hand on Azula’s shoulder and put a hand up to stop the woman from moving.  
“You have everything correct.” She lowered her voice and turned to Azula who looked like a caged animal. “You’ll be fine. Talk to them a little and it’ll be okay. Don’t worry. Breathe.”  
Katara left with Toph before Azula could say something else. As much as she adored her sister-in-law and hated to see her afraid, she knew that it would help her in the end. Besides, it would have been impossible for her to relax with Toph if she was constantly watching Azula to make sure that she talked with Mai and Ty Lee.  
As it went, Katara spent most of her time alternating between reminiscing with Toph and worrying how Azula was getting by. When they got to the waiting however, the relationship between the three former best friends seemed to be on the way to being mended.  
“So,” Toph said to distract herself from the ship’s rocking, “Is the wedding happening as soon as we get back to the Fire Nation or what?”  
“Of course not. They’ll be a reception dinner once we get back and then there’s the wedding. We’re actually the last people to get to the Fire Nation out of all the guests,” Katara corrected.  
Ty Lee unwrapped herself from Mai long enough to smile at her hostess. “What a way to make an entrance, Katara.”  
“I taught her well,” Azula teased.  
Katara stayed on the deck with her friends for a while before going down to her own quarters. After being alone for a brief moment, a knock sounded against the metal door. As she went to open it, the edges bent and curled to reveal Toph. The small earth bender but the door together messily after plopping down on Katara’s bed.  
“Come on in, Toph,” Katara deadpanned.  
Toph did nothing but smile. “Mind tell me why you’re so nervous about basically renewing your vows with Zuko?  
“I’m not nervous.” Katara sighed at Toph’s disbelieving face. “Okay, I’m not nervous about that. I’d marry Zuko a thousand times and dive in head first for each one—the Nation’s budget wouldn’t, but I would.”  
“So what’s the problem if you’re so head over heels?”  
“A week after we make it official in the Fire Nation, I’m going to be crowned the next Fire Lady. I’m scared out of my mind about what people will think and if they’ll even support it. Zuko had his life threatened so many times after we announced our engagement and then I had the one attempt when I came to the Fire Nation to live permanently. It’ll be much harder to do what I need if the people in power constantly go against me.”  
Toph thought for a moment as Katara came to sit next to her. “I’m trying to figure a way to word this that doesn’t sound like my usual pep talks. You’re great, Katara, and I’m sure everyone knows it by now, whether they like you or not. You don’t have an official title yet and you’re already doing so much good for the Fire Nation. They’d have to be self-destructive and dumber than dumb to go against your plans when all you want to do is help. You’ll make a great Fire Lady, hell, you make a great leader period. Why do you think your dad didn’t hesitate to put you into training when he thought that Sokka wouldn’t come back? You were born to help other people, no matter the nation. Everyone will see that if they don’t already.”  
Katara took the rare occasion of the ship and the bed to lay a surprising hug on her best friend. “I’m so glad I met you.”  
“Even though I drive you crazy?”  
“You keep me sane,” Katara corrected.  
Toph let the hug go on for a moment longer before breaking free. “Alright, alright. Now that you’re no longer about to cause a tsunami, I’m going back to learn some moves from Ty Lee and Mai. See you in the morning, Sweetness.”  
Katara spent the rest of the trip sparring and joking around with the other four women. The day before they were set to arrive in the Fire Nation, a group of the servants that she’d brought forced her below deck to wash the grime of the sea from her skin. Once it was finally time for her last sleep on the ship, Katara felt as if her body and scalp had been rubbed raw. It payed off in the morning when she glowed beneath the golden and blue satin gown that the servants helped her get into. The gown itself hugged every curve while the cloak worn over it was a deep scarlet and obscured her frame. When they docked Azula, Toph, Mai and Ty Lee were left off to go to the palace while she had to wait for her hair to be fashioned into a sleek, dark brown curtain.  
By the time she walked into the palace, escorted by guards, the chatter in the main dining hall was audible from the gardens. She heard her name and status announced before all talking through the heavy, wooden doors died. Slowly, she was revealed to the full room. When they’d had a moment to take her in, a servant removed her cloak and scurried away. As she walked to the opposite head of the table from Zuko, she saw Ty Lee mouth ‘entrance’ and nod her head in approval.  
“The Fire Lord and I, would like to welcome you into our home,” Katara said, “Eat and catch up now and then tomorrow will be the wedding that you all traveled so far for.”  
Katara talked with Suki, Sokka and her father all while shooting glances down the table to Zuko and dutifully keeping her eyes away from Aang. As more and more guests retired for the night, she didn’t have a choice but to speak with her former flame.  
“I want to congratulate you and Zuko on your first marriage and the one that I’ll be able to be present for,” he said diplomatically while holding himself up to his full height. “I wish the two of you nothing but happiness.”  
“Thank you.” Katara smiled gently. “I’m glad that you’ll be able to come tomorrow. It’s nice to know that all of my friends will be there to share in the happy moment.”  
Aang nodded as Zuko came forward. “Thank you for your attendance, Avatar Aang. We understand that you’re a very busy man and can’t be at every formal event.” Katara caught the coded glance that Zuko shot her. “It’s late and we have to wake up very early tomorrow. If you’ll excuse us.”  
“Of course.” Aang waved a hand and went to Sokka.  
Once Katara and Zuko reached the door, two teams of palace workers came forth. “Lady Katara, your room is prepared for you tonight. Fire Lord Zuko, yours is as well.”  
“We never sleep in separate rooms,” Zuko dismissed.  
“It’s a tradition for the couple to sleep in separate rooms—for the entire engagement period—but most especially for the night before the wedding. If you’ll follow us to your rooms.”  
Katara twisted slightly to kiss Zuko on the side of his mouth. “It’s one night, Zu. We’ll survive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this took way too long and I acknowledge that. College is kicking my ass, I'm sick all the time and the workload is something else. There's about four more chapters left in this story which I'll try and do on a biweekly basis and then I'll take a break before going into my next mutli-chapter fic. In the meantime, are they any ATLA/LOK one shots that you'd like to see? I can squeeze out a few from my schedule. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the last wedding is coming up next so stay tuned! As always thanks so so so much for reading and sticking with this story.


	15. Anxieties

If someone had told Zuko that he’d be running around like a mad man searching for Katara in the palace before the sun had even risen a few years ago he would have scoffed. But now he was tearing down hall after hall, with his royal dressers in hot pursuit, as he searched for the room where they had stashed his fiancée. She hadn’t been in the chambers that had been assigned to her when she took up residence in the palace and no one would tell him where she was.   
“Fire Lord Zuko, if you want to be sufficiently rested for the wedding ceremony then you have to return to your rooms immediately,” one of the dressers shouted down the hall.   
“Zuko,” Ursa said from the doorway of her own chambers, “Behaving like a child isn’t really fitting on your wedding day. Go back to your rooms now and let the rest of us get some sleep.”  
Zuko looked at his mother with wild eyes and even wilder hair. “I just need to talk to Katara for a moment and then I can go back to bed.”  
“Do you promise to put these poor men out of their misery if I let you talk to Katara?”  
Zuko nodded gratefully and Ursa sighed before disappearing into her chambers for a second to grab a dressing gown to go over her night clothes. Once she was able to decently walk around the palace, she motioned for her son to follow after her. Zuko was thankful that none of the foreign nobles were awake and about to see him being guided around like a child by his mother. He forgot all about what it may have looked like when the current Fire Lady stopped outside of a room that he hadn’t even known was in the palace and knocked.   
“Who is it?” Katara’s head attendant asked pleasantly. “If this is breakfast take it back to the kitchens so that it will still be hot when Lady Katara wakes up.”  
“This is Fire Lady Ursa and Fire Lord Zuko; he wanted to speak with his intended but if she’s not awake—”  
Zuko heard the distinct muffle of a struggle behind the door as Katara no doubt rushed the door. He waited for the door to open but instead he just heard her body press against the thick wood.   
“Zuko?” Katara breathed and waited for him to answer. Her stomach was well beyond the stage of being in knots, she wasn’t even sure if she possessed the organ any longer.   
“Katara, are you allowed to open the door?”  
“Absolutely not,” Ursa and the attendant dismissed at the same time.   
Katara laughed from her side of the door. “It’s fine, I can talk to you for a bit through the door.” She paused to let out a long breath. “I’m really nervous about all the people that will be there today.”  
“There were a lot of people at the Water Tribe ceremony,” her fiancé pointed out.   
Katara wanted to bite her nails as she thought of a way to explain that the people in the Water Tribe all liked her and made her feel at ease. While she was in the Fire Nation, the gentleness that she’d developed despite living in a home forged of ice was looked down upon. Somehow, she was sure that he knew from her suspended silence because she heard him put his forehead against the wood and she did the same with her own, despite her attendant’s look of sheer horror.   
“Don’t worry about anyone else today. This is a day for you and me. We won’t be immediately liked everywhere we go, even within our respective homelands but that doesn’t mean we have to let it affect us. Soon they’ll see how great of a leader you are and they’ll have no choice but to respect you. Your breakfast is here which means it’s my cue to go and eat my own. I love you Katara and I can’t wait to marry you.”  
She smiled softly. “I love you too and can’t wait to marry you again.”  
Katara stayed on the door until she could no longer hear Zuko walking away and let the servants in with the cart heaped with breakfast food. While Katara’s mouth watered at the sight, and she was silently thankful that the Fire Nation planned on allowing her to eat more than her home had, the relief was short lived. After being fed—they didn’t want her to ruin her freshly lacquered nails—a few bites of food, the cart was taken away and Katara had to devote herself fully to being prepared for her second wedding.   
After hours of having her hair crafted into tight braids atop her head, her makeup done so that she looked like a nearly different person and two heavily scented baths and shaves later, it was finally time for Katara to move to the room where she would get dressed. The halls of the palace had been decorated with lanterns and silk streamers for the wedding. The gardens had been opened up to the public so that they may catch glimpses of the royal wedding that would go down in history for more reasons that one. As she passed through the halls and the people that she would soon rule over caught sight of her, they cheered loudly. The servants steered her into the room quickly after she gave a short wave.   
Ursa, Azula, Toph and Gran-Gran were already in the room when she got in. Ursa had a small handkerchief in her hand and had to dab at her eyes every other second. Katara was offered more food that had to be fed to her yet again for fear of messing up her lipstick but thankfully her companions saw that she was able to finish most of her plate.   
“You look so beautiful Katara,” Gran-Gran said as one of the royal dressers did up the button that went from the small of Katara’s back all the way to the bottom of her neck. “She’s watching over you right now.”  
Katara turned as much as she could to smile at the woman. “Thank you all for being here.”  
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Toph assured.   
Katara looked at the gown as it flowed around her lower half and had to suck in a breath. Now, away from the fears about losing her culture with her marriage, she was able to see how truly beautiful it was. As if reading her mind, Ursa stepped forward and nodded.   
“Just wait until you see it with the veil. Before that, we come with gifts. From me, you’ll receive something old.” The woman removed a golden necklace from her own neck and placed it around Katara’s.  
“Since I’m not a fan of hand-me-downs, I come bearing the something new.” Azula produced a pair of scarlets heels with swirls of going along the sides. “I saw the wedding shoes they had for you and decided they were much too atrocious.”  
The woman who had made Katara’s gown and ultimately picked out the original shoes tried not to look too offended at the princess’ words.   
“The something blue is from your grandmother and me,” Toph said, “The finest Earth Kingdom silk money can buy. Only the best for you Sweetness.”   
Katara gasped when she saw her Gran-Gran produce the powder blue veil from a long box. The ends had intricate snowflake designs. When it was pinned to her hair, the front came down to beneath her chest and gave everything a blue hue. The back swept all the way to the floor and pooled around the train of her gown. Once she had fire lilies pressed into her hands, it was time to start the procession to the grand ballroom.  
Ursa and Gran-Gran left the room after air kissing the bride so that they could make it to their respective matriarchal seats in time. Toph and Azula, the only bridesmaids, walked a pace or two in front of Katara with their own bouquets as two servants went behind to make sure that the veil and gown weren’t soiled on the walk over. The many bands that had been put together for the event started the slow march song so that the gathered citizens and the nobles who had snagged inside seats, knew that the wedding was underway. Katara felt her stomach drop all the way to her new shoes as she started the long walk and the music was drowned out by the cheers of the Fire Nation citizens. Instead of waving, she kept her head straight forward.  
At the quarter mark, Sokka joined her, done up in the reds and gold of the Fire Nation only to hand her off to Hakoda at the half way mark who was dressed in Water Tribe blues. Katara’s father stayed with her for the rest of the walk that took no less than forty-five minutes and into the grand ballroom where servants opened both doors to the wedding party. Azula and Toph walked down the aisle first, the two were such opposites that it was almost jarring to see them arm in arm. Finally, once they’d settled into their spots on the raised platform, Katara started her long walk.   
Everyone in attendance stood to watch as Katara walked but she only had eyes for Zuko standing in royal armor and failing to hide his wide grin as he saw her walking down the aisle. She smiled hugely beneath her veil and her eyes grew steadily wetter the closer she got. Finally, when it was her turn to step onto the platform she wished that she was able to move enough to bend it off her face but her hands were in Zuko’s and she could deal for a little while longer.   
“Please be seated,” the ancient Fire Sage boomed. There was a short pause while everyone in the room sat. “We are gathered here today to witness the union of Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara under Agni. This wedding will bring two houses, two nations and two people together in a way that has never been seen before. They will be a unit from here on out.   
“Will you, Fire Lord Zuko, have Lady Katara to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you protect her, provide for her and keep her forsaking all others remain true to her, as long as you both shall wish to remain in this union?”  
“I, Fire Lord Zuko, take thee, Lady Katara, to be my wife and before Agni I promise these witnesses to be a diligent and honorable husband.”   
“Will you, Lady Katara, take Fire Lord Zuko to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you love him, comfort and keep him, forsaking all others remain true to him, as long as you shall live?”  
The changes in the promises were not lost on Katara but she refused to frown at her wedding. “I, Lady Katara, take thee, Fire Lord Zuko, to be my husband and before Agni I promise these witnesses to be a faithful and true wife.”   
“By the power vested in me, I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”  
Zuko lifted the veil with his eyes shining and pulled Katara into a kiss that had more emotion than she’d ever felt in life. Somehow the kiss managed to be salty from their mingled tears but sweet from their twined love. They kissed for longer than was deemed proper but neither of them cared. They left the ballroom, hand in hand and with huge smiles plastered over their faces. The royal guard led the couple to the balcony that overlooked the front gates and had hundreds of citizens crowded on the lawns beneath. Zuko held Katara close to his side and she lifted her bouquet high in the air as a roar rang out from the gathered crowd. They kissed once more before going inside for the reception.   
As the couple celebrated with more kisses before rejoining the many guests, talk of rebels flew through the air. Azula carried around a small plate loaded with food and tried not to seem too interested in what was being said. Maybe after the honeymoon she could convince her brother and new sister that her talents were needed to snuff out these rebels before they started adding to the royal line.   
She was cut off from her eavesdropping when Katara’s brother moved to stand in front of her. Unlike his sister, the harsh reds of Azula’s land did nothing to flatter him. Azula gave him her best bored expression while she tried to wipe the memory of her thinking he was cute once upon a time from her mind.   
“I wasn’t expecting Katara to pick you as one of her bridesmaids. Maybe Suki, but you know.” He punctuated the unfinished sentence with a shrug.   
Azula’s knuckles went white on her plate and the greens on her finger sandwiches began to shrivel with the sudden heat. “Katara and I are friends. Usually friends ask each other to be in their weddings.”  
“My sister has always been forgiving but what do you get out of this? Is it because she’s going to be the new Fire Lady?” Sokka narrowed his blue eyes.   
“While I don’t have to explain myself to you, Chief or not, I’m friends with your sister because I genuinely like her,” Azula seethed.   
Sokka snorted rather unbecomingly but his retort was stuck in his throat when his wife drifted over. “Either you two stop talking to each other or get friendly because your murderous expressions are going to start another war on the spot.”  
Azula sniffed haughtily, wondering how much trouble she’d get in for lighting the chief’s ponytail on fire before deciding better of it and walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness, it's been way too long since I updated this. Blame it on school kicking my ass for the past months. Anyway, here's the chapter. Also there's also only two more chapters left in this story :(. Hope you enjoy.


	16. New Beginnings

Iroh watched as Katara picked at the skin under her nails and decided that it was time to step in and do something. He took one of her hands in his and smiled.

“I don’t know if even I can have a tea for fears this strong. But I do have a way to take your mind off today’s events,” Iroh told.

Katara turned her mouth to one side before sighing. “I’m willing to try anything.”

“You any my nephew have been married for a week now and I’m wondering if there will be any heirs running around the palace any time soon.”

Despite herself, Katara laughed. “It’s only been a week! I think you should ask again in a month.”

“I just need to know when it’s an acceptable time to start presenting you two with gifts. I went into town the other day and saw the most adorable pair of purple baby booties and just had to pick them up. I’m bursting at the seams waiting to see them on tiny feet.”

“I’ll let Zuko know right away.” Katara laid her head on the older man’s shoulder. “Thank you for always being there for us. I don’t know if I would have made it this far without your support.”

“Nonsense; you’re a strong woman and I have faith that you can do anything you set your mind to. That’s why you’re so good for this nation—it’s needs someone who won’t back down,” Iroh complimented.

Katara was poised to reply when Zuko opened the door. He was in full Fire Nation regalia, as was she. The only difference was that his Fire Lord crown sparkled in his hair and her own version was in a box tucked under his arm.

“They’re ready for you, love.”

Katara’s anxiety snapped back like a bow string pulled too tight. Before Katara could get past him, Zuko pulled her into a hug and kissed her tenderly. He laid his forehead on hers so that she couldn’t divert her blue eyes from his amber pair.

“There’s nothing you can’t do. All you have to do is sit there and then repeat what the sages say. You’ve already been attending to Fire Lady duties. There will be no change,” Zuko whispered, “I love you.”

“I’ve never loved anyone more than I love you.”

Katara kissed her husband once more before setting her shoulders and pointing her chin in the air. Zuko and Katara walked down the halls side by side, surrounded by guards who had their weapons and bending at the ready. Zuko had ordered extra security for the day in case any rebels felt bold. Nothing was going to ruin the day that Katara became Fire Lady if he could help it.

Katara and Zuko stopped before the doors to the grand ballroom. Zuko gave her hand a final squeeze and nodded to the page.

“Introducing Fire Lord Zuko and his wife, Lady Katara!”

The heavy wooden doors opened to reveal a room full of nobles and the wealthiest people in the Fire Nation. Katara took another breath before she walked down the aisle with measured steps. She knew that most of the attendees wanted to see her confidence fall but she refused to let a crack show. She had the support of the Fire Lord, the Dragon of the West and the most fear princess in Fire Nation history. When she reached the platform that had hosted her wedding a week early she saw Azula give her a barely noticeable nod. Katara kneeled at the foot of the platform in front of the head Fire Sage and lowered her chin only slightly. As Iroh had coached, she didn’t look at the floor but she didn’t look directly at or above the Fire Sage. If she had learned anything during her time at court it was how to direct her gaze to display her station.

“I present to you my wife, Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe to be crowned Fire Lady from this day forth until her dying day,” Zuko declared. His voice was clear and without a hint of hesitation.

“Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, do you accept the nomination for Fire Lady?” the Fire Sage asked.

“I accept.” Katara kept her voice steady and her hands still in her lap.

“Will you put the fate and needs of the Fire Nation above your own?”

“I will.”

“Will you do everything in your power to make sure that the Fire Nation succeeds under your rule?”

“I will.”

“Will you ensure that the Fire Nation remains superior to all other nations in the world?”

Katara heard the rustle of clothing as the audience processed the question; she had heard the question dozens of times before as she prepared for the day. “I will.”

“Do you hereby revoke your claim, your citizenship and your rule to other nations?”

Without hesitation Katara declared, “I do.”

The Fire Sage lit a flame in both of his palms and held one out to Zuko. Zuko took the flame and placed the Fire Lady crown into the Sage’s now vacant hand. The Sage firmly placed the golden flame in Katara’s prepared hair.

“You are no longer Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, from this day forth until your dying day you will be Fire Lady Katara, a faithful and loyal ruler to the Fire Nation. Stand and look at your court.”

Katara stood and looked at the full room with a steady and hard gaze. The audience slowly started a ripple of bows where they sank until their foreheads almost touched the ground. Zuko came to her side, took her hand and walked to the balcony where guards already waited. The grounds below were packed with average citizens of the Fire Nation. Katara wished that her family could have attended but understood this day was for the Fire Nation. Her new nation.

“I present to you your new Fire Lady,” Zuko boomed, “Fire Lady Katara.”

The people below clapped and bowed. Katara moved to the front of the balcony and lifted her chin high. “I will serve you well. You are my people and I will do everything in my power to ensure the Fire Nation is a great nation.”

After a few moments of applause Zuko and Katara returned inside. Before they went back to the room of nobles who were now helping themselves to food and gossip, Zuko pulled Katara close.

“There’s no one I’d rather have by my side as my wife, my co-ruler, the future mother of my children and my dearest friend.”

Katara kissed either side of Zuko’s face, lingering on his scar for a moment. “I’m glad that all the paths I’ve taken have led me to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! It's been nearly a year since my last update but here it is! This story is now complete and might I say I'm glad I stuck it out. I have another story planned out, a modern day college AU and that's why I figured it was time to wrap this one up. Might I say I love writing adult Zutara living in the Fire Nation and I hope to revisit them someday. I hope this ending is good enough for you. As always, leave comments for what you want to see or what you thought I could have done better. Also, if anyone wants to beta that new story I mentioned just drop a comment on this or inbox me. I should have a chapter of it up soon. Thank you all so much and I love you for reading even one sentence.


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